Aeria Games
| Aeria Logo | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Founded | 2006[1] |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, U.S.[2] |
| Products | Last Chaos, Twelve Sky, Project Torque, Shaiya, Dream of Mirror Online, Megaten, Cronous, Dreamlords, Stone Age 2, Pi Story, Turf Battles, Goldslam, Richman Online |
| Website | Aeria Games & Entertainment |
Aeria Games, based in Silicon Valley, California, is an online games publisher.[3]. Aeria Games & Entertainment Inc. (AGE), a subsidiary of Aeria Inc. (www.aeria.jp) in Japan, is developing an Internet gaming portal for MMORPGs in the U.S. It focuses on massively multiplayer online role-playing games, licensing games from (primarily Asian) developers for a North American audience. Aeria Games has officially announced that it is opening its European headquarters in Germany. Its European subsidiary, Aeria Games GmbH, will be located in Berlin, the German capital.[4] It has recently forayed into the European market with the launch of a German Shaiya open beta and plans for a French version, as well as the addition of a European Last Chaos server in January 2009.[5] Its games are ostensibly "free to play" but use a micropayment system to generate revenue (in game item malls and advertising).[6]
Aeria has published thirteen games: Last Chaos (its launching title), Twelve Sky, Project Torque, Shaiya, Dream of Mirror Online, Megaten, Cronous, Dreamlords, Stone Age 2, Pi Story, Turf Battles , Goldslam and Richman Online. Its Goldslam, Dreamlords and Richman Online servers were shut down due to lack of interest, and associated websites and forums have since been removed.[7] The Cronous servers were incorporated into the developers own servers and the Aeria Game's website and servers were closed. In 2009, Aeria announced the acquisition of Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu for the European market[2] and Twelve Sky 2, Hello Kitty Online and DragonSky for North America.[8] As of December 2008, the company claims over 5 million registered accounts.[1]
Aeria had recently become embroiled in a controversy over rights to Twelve Sky 2 with rival publisher MAYN Interactive, which is also going to publish Twelve Sky 2.[9] This situation has since been resolved with both companies receiving the rights to publish the title in English with no IP restrictions.[10]
Aeria Games also created some controversy when it allowed players to pursue same-sex relationships if they want to in the game Dream of Mirror Online.[11]
The Better Business Bureau gives the company a C rating.[12] It has been rumored from some of the player assistants that emails containing requests from the game masters to up the rating from the BBB had been flowing around.
References
- ^ a b http://www.aeriagames.com/aboutus
- ^ a b http://videogames.yahoo.com/news-1288108
- ^ http://www.crunchbase.com/company/aeria
- ^ http://www.research-in-germany.de/coremedia/generator/dachportal/en/07__News_20and_20Events/VDITZ_20-_20News_26Events/Archiv/2008-08-26_2C_20Aeria_20Games_20to_20Expand_20in_20Germany,sourcePageId=12376.html
- ^ http://pc.ign.com/articles/950/950053p1.html
- ^ http://www.mediapost.com/publications/index.cfm?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=76823
- ^ http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=310967
- ^ http://www.tomshardware.com/news/PC-Gaming-Roundup,7142.html
- ^ http://forum.12sky2.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2336
- ^ http://forum.12sky2.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2608
- ^ http://www.examiner.com/x-5850-SF-Gaming-Lifestyle-Examiner~y2009m3d23-Aeria-Games-MMO-Dream-of-Mirror-Online-introduces-samesex-marriage
- ^ http://sanjose.bbb.org/BusinessReport.aspx?CompanyID=241000