5) How has IGG grown and changed as a company over the last three years?
Kevin Xu : In the past three years, our portfolio increased to 12 MMORPGs, with additional 6 more games in our launching pipeline, and 7 more games in our development pipeline. Our staff grew from 5 people to now 550 people.
IGG have acquired three development studios in the past two years, and the first few self-developed games, such as Godswar Online, Galaxy Online and Dreamland Online have already hit the market.
6) What can we expect from IGG over the next three years?
Kevin Xu : Over the next three years, we will continue on bring you more and more top of the line games from developers all over the world. Also, you will see more and more IGG self-developed games and co-developed games launching on IGG portal. These games will be solely designed for the North American players. We are planning to launch at least 12 games every year.
7) What do you believe is the future of the Free to Play market in North America?
Kevin Xu : We strongly believe that Free to Play MMORPGs will gradually take over the game market. Places like China and Korea, Free to Play MMORPGs are already dominating the market. With the advance in Graphics Chip design and 3D game design, the game visual and game play quality of these MMOs will soon catch up with other PC or Console games.
8) Why, in your opinion, is the microtransaction-based MMO business model referred to as Free 2 play when the games do, in fact, cost money?
Kevin Xu : When we say the game is FREE, sure you can download it for free and play it for free. The games are designed in a balanced way so that given you have sufficient time; you may not need to spend any money on the game. However, if you do have to work and time is of great importance to you, then spending some money to match other players’ pace may become necessary.
