Aeria Games
| Aeria Logo | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California, U.S. |
Key people | Lan Hoang |
| Products | Last Chaos, Twelve Sky, Twelve Sky 2 , Shaiya, Dream of Mirror Online, Megaten, Dreamlords, Stone Age 2, Pi Story, La Tale, Goldslam,Luminary, WolfTeam, Poker Heroes, Fragoria, Kingdom Heroes, Pirate Galaxy, DDTank, Dynasty Warriors Online, Grand Fantasia |
| Website | Aeria Games & Entertainment |
Aeria Games, based in Santa Clara, California, is an online games publisher. Aeria Games & Entertainment Inc. (AGE), a subsidiary of Aeria Inc. (www.aeria.jp) in Japan, is developing an Internet gaming portal for MMORPGs in the U.S. It focuses on massively multiplayer online role-playing games, licensing games from (primarily Asian) developers for a North American audience. A European subsidiary office, Aeria Games GmbH, is located in Berlin, Germany[1] and in the summer of 2010, another subsidiary office opened in São Paulo, Brazil.
Its games are ostensibly free to play but use a micropayment system to generate revenue (in game item malls and advertising).
Marketing
Aeria Games has utilized a variety of marketing tools to promote its games on the web. Regular news announcements on game promotions and events are updated on both the official website as well as the community forums. Banner advertising have also appeared to invite new players to their games.
The company's e-currency, Aeria Points, are often offered at special rates or take the form of rebates for certain games. Aeria Games also has a Facebook fan page and is also on Twitter in order to give news directly to subscribers and fans.
In an effort to promote its growing portfolio of free online games, Aeria launched a new webpage Aeria NOW, that focuses on its browser games portfolio.
In-Game Governance and Customer Service
Aeria Games is known for its population of game masters (paid customer services employees) and game sages (volunteer users selected by the company) who assist players with problems and report issues and problems in-game. Also, customers with specific problems make use of a request submission/tracking or RT to bring to light serious issues to the Aeria Games staff.
Games Published
Aeria has published twenty games: Last Chaos (its launching title), Twelve Sky, Shaiya, Megaten, Cronous, Dreamlords, Stone Age 2, Pi Story, LaTale, WolfTeam, Twelve Sky 2, Hello Kitty Online, Grand Fantasia, Kingdom Heroes, "Project Torque", "Dream Of Mirror Online", and Dynasty Warriors Online. Its Goldslam, Dreamlords, Pi Story, Stone Age 2, Luminary, LaTale, Project Torque, DragonSky and Richman Online servers were shut down due to lack of interest, and associated websites and forums have since been removed. It should also be noted that Last Chaos, WolfTeam, and "DOMO" all are suffering from various reasons, such as poor marketing, lack of game quality, developer issues, and poor product management.
Community
As of May 2010, the community has over 13 million registered members[2]. This number has to be differentiated from active users (users returning regularly) and from paying users (since most of Aeria Games are F2P, it's possible to play withtout paying a cent); there are no public numbers for active or paying users. And because people can make numerous accounts, there is no solid way of finding out how many players there actually are.
Current/Scheduled Downloadable Games
- Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine
- Shaiya - fantasy mmorpg
- Twelve Sky 2 - martial arts mmorpg
- Dream of Mirror Online - anime themed mmorpg
- Last Chaos - fantasy mmorpg
- WolfTeam - sci-fi first-person-shooter
- Grand Fantasia - anime themed mmorpg
- Kingdom Heroes - Three Kingdoms inspired mmorpg
- Dynasty Warriors Online - a hack and slash mmo
- Kitsu Saga - anime themed mmorpg
Current Browser Based Games via Aeria Now
- Caesary - Ancient Rome browser rts game
- Poker Heroes - Facebook poker game
- Pirate Hookers - Sci-fi browser mmorpg
- Lords Online - Fantasy browser rts game
- DDTank - Turn based shooter
References
- ^ http://www.research-in-germany.de/coremedia/generator/dachportal/en/07__News_20and_20Events/VDITZ_20-_20News_26Events/Archiv/2008-08-26_2C_20Aeria_20Games_20to_20Expand_20in_20Germany,sourcePageId=12376.html
- ^ http://www.gamasutra.com/view/pressreleases/59304/Aeria_Games_Launches_Closed_Beta_for_Shaiya_Portuguese.php
External links
- Aeria Games official English language website, with links to the games offered by the company.
- Aeria NOW page with Aeria Games' browser games listed all together.