NetDragon Websoft is a Chinese company that develops and operates
massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, alt ...
s in addition to making
mobile application
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on de ...
s.
The company debuted its first product in 2002.
[
Some self-developed games it operates in China are based on Western IP, such as properties of ]Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
, and Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...
. Other games based on its own IP are distributed in CIS
Cis or cis- may refer to:
Places
* Cis, Trentino, in Italy
* In Poland:
** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central
** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north
Math, science and biology
* cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...
nations, the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
, North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, etc. Some games are also available in English.
Prior to selling this side of the business to Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...
, the company created a mobile phone app store stocked with self-created games and applications. NetDragon had differentiated itself by eschewing selling apps through the distribution channels of others instead creating its own; in essence making consumers download an app to download an app but allowing them exposure to other Netdragon offerings in the process.
Education
NetDragon Websoft started getting involved in education in 2010 with the aims to develop "the largest learning community globally."
NetDragon has made several acquisitions regarding education and community, amongst which are included:
* A partnership with the University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...
to launch the UNT-NetDragon Digital Research Centre.
* Edmodo
Edmodo was an educational technology platform for K-12 schools and teachers. Edmodo enabled teachers to share content, distribute quizzes and assignments, and manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents. It was shut down on Se ...
was acquired by NetDragon on April 8, 2018.
* On July 3, 2017, NetDragon announced that it had acquired American educational software publisher JumpStart Games
JumpStart Games, Inc., formerly Knowledge Adventure, Inc., is an American edutainment video game company based in Torrance, California. Founded in 1991, it owns the ''Neopets'' virtual pet website, and is itself owned by Chinese holding company ...
.
* NetDragon also acquired a 100 percent stake in the UK-listed Promethean Limited back in 2015.
Sale of 91 Wireless
NetDragon sold its app store, 91 Wireless, to Baidu
Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...
for $1.85 billion in what was hailed as the biggest deal ever in China's IT sector. As the company controlled less than 58% of 91 Wireless, Netdragon took an estimated $1.06 billion from the sale.
The mobile applications available through this store, many of which are "91" branded, are quite disparate and include more than mobile game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
s running the gamut from fortune telling to wealth management.
CSR
The company sponsors the Fujian NetDragon Youth Business Foundation, which helps entrepreneurial youth to start a small business.["NetDragon Fujian Honored with 2008 'National Outstanding Award for Internet Cultural Enterprise'." Internet Weekly News. NewsRX. 2009. HighBeam Research. 24 May. 2014]
See also
* Disney Fantasy Online
* Heroes of Might and Magic Online
* Transformers Online
* 91kt.com
* 91 Wireless
*Edmodo
Edmodo was an educational technology platform for K-12 schools and teachers. Edmodo enabled teachers to share content, distribute quizzes and assignments, and manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents. It was shut down on Se ...
*Promethean World
Promethean World Ltd is a global education technologies company that develops, integrates and implements learning environments. Promethean is held by NetDragon Websoft, a Chinese video game company, who acquired Promethean in 2015. The company's g ...
*JumpStart
''JumpStart'' (known as ''Jump Ahead'' in the United Kingdom) is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by JumpStart Games. The series originally consisted of a series of educational PC gam ...
References
{{reflist
Chinese brands
Companies based in Fuzhou
Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
Massively multiplayer online games
Companies established in 1999
Video game companies of China
Video game development companies