Having successfully launched ‘Pocketpet Journey West’ in the Chinese market in October 2008, popular free-to-play, microtransaction based game developer and operator, Perfect World is now bringing the new title to North American shores.

Perfect World has officially announced that closed beta testing for the North American version of ‘Pocketpet Journety West’ will begin on Febraury 10, 2009.  Repackaged as ‘Ether Saga Online’, ‘Pocketpet Journey West’ will be owned and operated by Perfect World’s U.S subsidiary, Perfect World Entertainment Inc.  The title has been modified to cater specifically to North American audiences.

‘Ether Saga Onlne’ is centered around ‘Journey to the West’; one of the four classical novels of Chinese literature.  The game features and incorporates unique and unmistakable references to the novel, and play involves an innovative pet raising system.  Perfect World says that ‘Ether Sage Online’ contains a number of unique features that help it stand out from other online pet raising games.  Perfect World will offer ‘Ether Saga Online’ as a free-to-play title, and monetize the game with microtransactions via their zen in-game currency form.

“I am pleased with our progress on the introduction of ‘Ether Saga Online’ to the North American market. I believe the closed beta launch will generate broad interest in our online game given its appealing design and unique in-game experience. Our further expansion into the North American market will accelerate our evolution into a comprehensive international online game developer and operator,” says Perfect World CEO Michael Chi.

‘Ether Saga Online’ is Perfect World’s sixth MMORPG, with other titles including ‘Perfect World,’ ‘Legend of Martial Arts,’ ‘Perfect World II,’ ‘Zhu Xian,’ ‘Chi Bi’ and ‘Pocketpet Journey West;” and a 3D online casual game: ‘Hot Dance Party.’

Visit ‘Ether Saga Online’ at http://eso.perfectworld.com/

Tags: ether saga online, free to play, Michael Chi, microtransaction, monetize, perfect world, Pocketpet journey west

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 2:59 pm and is filed under industry news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.