Bitoon Games partners with Softstar to distribute Basketdudes in Asia
Bitoon Games, a Spanish company that specializes in creating and editing Free2Play games, closed an agreement this week with Taiwanese publisher Softstar Entertainment to market BasketDudes, its first online multiplayer game based on this innovative business model. It allows users from all over the world to create and customize their own basketball teams to compete- for free- in real time. Launched in Spain this summer, and recently awarded with the Best European Online Game Award at Fun&Serious Game Festival, it will be available in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao at the end of the year.
Bitoon creates, publishes and operates its free multiplayer games nationally and internationally. Since the launch of BasketDudes last June in Spanish and in English, the gaming community has reached over 50,000 users, with a monthly growth of 85%. Furthermore, the agreement with Softstar will be a significant boost for the game, since the Asian market is where the Free2Play business model has been the most widespread for many years in the gaming industry, and also the most successful.
Bitoon, the pioneer for this model in Spain, has found the perfect partner in Softstar to enter the Asian market with, and thus become outstanding content in the Taiwanese publisher´s catalog.
Its first videogame, BasketDudes, gives users the chance to create their own basketball team, customize it, manage it and compete in real time against players from all over the world. Its launch, which in Spain took place last summer, is expected to reach the territories of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao starting next December on the Softstar platform. For that purpose, it has been translated into traditional Chinese, with which it will reach a vast market of users.
Free Games via the Internet
The Free2Play business model allows for full enjoyment of games, completely free of charge, and is based on the optional purchase of virtual goods by micro-payments, which users can make to improve within the game. This model, which has been successful on the Asian market for years, is still in its infancy in Spain and in other Western markets, where it is experiencing a major boom and demand.
In this regard, Fernando Piquer, CEO of Bitoon Games, indicated during the signing that "This agreement is an example of Bitoon´s clearly international vocation. We know there are markets that are very receptive to developing Free2Play, and that is where we need to be- with the best partners in the market, as is the case with Softstar."
BasketDudes, the first Spanish game distributed by Softstar Entertainment
Softstar is an independent company focused on developing, editing and operating online games on multiple platforms, including mobile devices, personal computers (PC) and the web. This year, Softstar found its next "star" player in Spain to add to its existing powerful line up of multiplayer online games.
Being in the game industry for almost 25 years, Softstar was able to stay ahead of the market by creating valuable IPs, understanding consumer needs and delivering consumer wants. With these core values together with the increasing growth of user´s interest in action sports, Softstar has been searching for potential partners in this area for some time now. Upon meeting Bitoon and seeing the high level of customization offered by BasketDudes to the users, Softstar knew right away this is the partnership they have been waiting for in order to provide the services coincide to user´s behavior.
Having the same mission statement, Bitoon and Softstar will do whatever it takes to offer the most unique experience of simple gameplay mechanics but enriching gaming experiences to all sport fans.
This strategic alliance would be the key in setting up the newest standard of basketball MMO in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao.