Over at the latest quarterly financial reveal yesterday, China MMORPG developer and publisher, Shanda Games, confirmed that RIFT China will not be going Free-to-Play like the North America server. Instead, it will continue using its 0.49 CNY (0.08 USD) per hour after level 20 plan.
The company’s CEO, Mr Xiangdong Zhang, admitted that RIFT did not performed as planned, with the main troubles identified as the unstable servers at launch and high level of difficulty for new players, coupled with a much “darker” feel to the game.
Version 2.0 is being developed, and he hopes players will return as well as attracting new ones. RIFT China’s troubles were already documented a few weeks back, and the millions spent on American “superstars” to promote the game has literally gone down the drain.
I still maintain that Shanda Games is the worst top 10 MMO companies in China, despite its top 5 market position. Mark my words, RIFT China will certainly not be seeing any revival even with the 2.0 update.
