Yoozoo Games

Yoozoo Games
Native name
游族网络有限股份公司
Yóuzú Wǎngluò Yǒuxiàn Gǔfèn Gōngsī
Company typeLimited partnership
SZSE: 002174
IndustryVideo games
Founded2009[1]
FounderLin Qi
Headquarters
Shanghai Edit this on Wikidata
RevenueUSD 453 million (2019)[2]
Number of employees
2000
Websiteglobal.yoozoo.com gtarcade.com
Yoozoo Games
Simplified Chinese游族网络股份有限公司
Traditional Chinese游族網絡股份有限公司
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYóuzú Wǎngluò Gǔ​fènyǒuxiàngōngsī

Yoozoo Games (trading name of Youzu Interactive) is a video game developer and publisher of browser and mobile games, primarily massively multiplayer online games (MMORPG), in Asia, Europe and North America. The company was founded in 2009 by Lin Qi, created GTArcade and started publishing its titles overseas in 2013,[3] and was listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2014.[4]

Many of its games obtain revenue from the sale of virtual goods[5] and the majority are developed in-house. Its most popular international game is a browser-based MMORPG titled League of Angels. This game began as a stand-alone game for the Chinese market but later was adapted for a growing international market. The game was released in English-speaking countries in late 2013 and now has over 300 servers in operation.[6]

Its headquarters are in Xuhui District, Shanghai.[7]

History

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Lin Qi (Chinese: 林奇；pinyin: LINQI, born in 1981 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang), also known as Titan Lin, was a Chinese entrepreneur and founder of Youzu Interactive. The company, which produces games for both its home markets and overseas markets, was acquired by Susino Umbrella[8] in an all-stock deal in 2014. Lin Qi owned approximately 100.9 million shares of Youzu, which were last valued at $2.2 billion, according to Wealth-X.[9] On December 25, 2020, Lin Qi died at age 39. He was allegedly poisoned on December 16 by one of his colleagues,[10][11] Xu Yao, who was sentenced to death in 2024 for the murder.[12] [13]

Youzu Games HongKong Limited was founded in early 2013 in Hong Kong[14] and focuses on localizing and operating massively multiplayer games in North America and Europe. In 2016, Youzu bought German online game developer Bigpoint for $89.7 million.[15]

Video games

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League of Angels

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League of Angels II promotion at Gamescom 2016

League of Angels (Abbreviation: LoA) is an MMORPG released in December 2013 by Youzu Interactive.[16] LoA's China release took place in July 2013, with the North American version following shortly in December of that year.[17] League of Angels was chosen in December 2014 as one of the best new games on Facebook for that year.[18]

League of Angels II (also League of Angels 2 or LoA2) is the 2016 sequel to the 2013 game. Its impending release was announced on March 15,[19] and a 5,000-player closed beta ran from March 24[20] to 31,[21] then replaced with an open beta. It launched on April 8 in North America, and two weeks later there was a free gold giveaway to promote playing.[22] The game's European release occurred on May 19.[23] The game's first multilanguage release (English, French, German, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese) was released on May 26,[24] then in Portuguese and Spanish on June 23.[25][26]

Infinity Kingdom

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Infinity Kingdom (Abbreviated as IK) is a freemium cartoon mobile strategy video game, released on January 28, 2021, for both iOS and Android. The Android version was released on Google Play, Huawei Appgallery, and Samsung Galaxy Store. An APK is also available on the Infinity Kingdom website. A PC version was released on Steam[27] on July 2, 2021. The game is currently available in English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese and Tradiditonal Chinese. For the future, Korean, Japanese, Arabic and Bengali translations are planned.

Other games

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References

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  1. ^ "YOOZOO Games". YOOZOO Games. Archived from the original on 2020-07-25. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  2. ^ "YOOZOO Publishes 2019 Annual Report, Reports 110% Profit Growth in Q1 2020". Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2022-03-25.
  3. ^ MJ, Guthrie. "League of Angels starts closed beta on December 4th". Massively by Joystiq. Archived from the original on 24 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  4. ^ "Youzu Interactive Co Ltd". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2016-05-09. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  5. ^ "Audit Report & Financial Statements (From 1 January 2011 to 31 August 2013)" (PDF). cninfo.com.cn. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  6. ^ "League of Angels Server List". League of Angels Official Website. Archived from the original on 2014-07-21. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  7. ^ "Contact Us". Yoozoo Games. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-02-14. 公司地址：上海市徐汇区宜山路711号华鑫中心2号楼
  8. ^ "SUSINO UMBRELLA CO., LTD". www.susino.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  9. ^ "Wealth-X Reveals: Asia's Top 10 Wealthiest Millennials". Wealth-X. Archived from the original on 2015-09-29. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  10. ^ Aquilina, Tyler. "Lin Qi, producer on Game of Thrones creators' Netflix series, dies after suspected poisoning". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Yoozoo Games CEO Lin Dies at 39 Amid Poisoning Probe". Bloomberg.com. 2020-12-25. Archived from the original on 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  12. ^ "Former executive given death sentence in poisoning of founder of high-flying Chinese gaming company". Associated Press. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Ex-Gaming Exec With Company That Owns '3-Body Problem' Film Rights Sentenced To Death In China". Deadline.
  14. ^ "YOUZU GAMES HONGKONG LIMITED". Webb-site. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
  15. ^ "China's Youzu Interactive buys German online game developer Bigpoint for $89.7M". VentureBeat. 22 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  16. ^ "Youzu COO Talks League of Angels' Wes tern Operation, Marketing, & More". F2P NEWS. 13 August 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  17. ^ Minotti, Mike (15 December 2014). "League of Angels teams up with Facebook to find Western success". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  18. ^ Morris, Daniel (9 December 2014). "Facebook's 2014 Games of the Year". Facebook. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  19. ^ "League of Angels II Ushers in a New Age for MMORPGs _ League of Angels II Official Site". Archived from the original on 2018-03-22. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  20. ^ "LoA II Closed Beta Successfully Launched!_League of Angels II Official Site". Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  21. ^ "March 31st : Farewell Closed Beta, Hello Open Beta! - GTArcade". Archived from the original on 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  22. ^ "League of Angels II giveaway". PCGamesN. 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016.
  23. ^ "League Of Angels 2 - Découvrez LoA 2". Archived from the original on 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  24. ^ "League of Angels II Launching Multi-Language Edition". Archived from the original on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  25. ^ "Spanish and Portuguese Will Be Available on June 23rd!". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  26. ^ Zou Michelle, Marketing Director (22 June 2016). "League of Angels II Now Available in Spanish and Portuguese". Business Wire. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  27. ^ "Infinity Kingdom on Steam". Welcome to Steam. Archived from the original on 2021-08-07. Retrieved 2021-08-07.
  28. ^ a b "We catch up with Youzu to get the inside track on Legacy of Discord – Furious Wings". Pocket Gamer. 15 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016. From the developers who brought you other great titles including League of Angels – Fire Raiders and Youth of the Three Kingdoms
  29. ^ Johnson, Neilie (24 May 2014). "Knights Fable Open Beta Begins May 29th". mmorpg.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
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