Fantasy Westward Journey

Fantasy Westward Journey (simplified Chinese: 梦幻西游; traditional Chinese: 夢幻西遊; pinyin: Mèng Huàn Xī Yóu) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and operated by the Chinese company NetEase. It was released for the Microsoft Windows platform in December 2001.[1] The game is the most popular online game in China as of May 2007 by peak concurrent users (PCU), with a peak count of 1.5 million.[2] Registered users reached 25 million by April 2005,[3] with 576,000 peak concurrent players on 198 game servers, which was considered the fastest-growing online game in China at the time.[3] Average concurrent users was reported in August 2006 to be around 400,000.[4]

The game uses the same engine as Westward Journey II, albeit with a distinctively different graphical style. Both games are inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West. Together with Westward Journey II, it is one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, having earned an estimated $6.5 billion in lifetime revenue as of 2019 and having 400 million users as of 2015.[5]

History

In July 2006, administrators at NetEase dissolved a 700-member in-game anti-Japanese guild and locked the account of its founder for having an anti-Japanese username.[6] A mass in-game protest took place days later on July 7, the anniversary of the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, with up to 80,000 users joining the online protest on one of the game's servers.[7]

Total registered users of Fantasy Westward Journey had reached 310 million as of 2015.[8]

Mobile version

A mobile version of the game was released for the Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems in 2015. It had grossed over $800 million in China alone by 2016.[9] In 2017, it grossed $1.5 billion worldwide,[10] bringing the mobile version's total revenue to approximately $2.3 billion by 2017.

Fantasy Westward Journey launched its first 3D animation in 2015. After release on the Chinese mainstream online video platform, it successively launched on several Chinese TV stations.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "About NetEase Games".
  2. ^ "China Analyst - News and Insights on U.S.-Listed Chinese Stocks: Ranking of Top 10 Online Games in China and Its Implications". Archived from the original on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  3. ^ a b Xinhua. "夢幻西遊"搭車"動感地帶" 網遊結盟中移動. Apr 6, 2005. (in Chinese)
  4. ^ "if:book: controversy in a MMORPG". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  5. ^ Messner, Steven (16 September 2019). "The 5 biggest PC games in China that you'll probably never play". PC Gamer.
  6. ^ Jenkins, Henry (August 2006). "National Politics within Virtual Game Worlds: The Case of China". Henry Jenkins. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  7. ^ "WORLDBEAT - Chinese take anti-Japan protest online - Network World". Archived from the original on 2007-11-24. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  8. ^ "Press Release - April 21, 2015" (Press release).
  9. ^ "App Annie 2016 Retrospective" (PDF). App Annie. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-12. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  10. ^ "2017 YEAR IN REVIEW: DIGITAL GAMES AND INTERACTIVE MEDIA" (PDF). SuperData Research. January 25, 2018.
  11. ^ "情怀之作 梦幻西游2动画片感动继续_网络游戏梦幻西游2_官方网站合作专区_新浪游戏_新浪网". games.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2015-11-08.