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 open world, although there are ...

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 des ...

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 ...

, 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 nations, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, 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 l ...

, 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

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 games 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

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

Education

Sale of 91 Wireless

CSR

See also

References