China gets Goofy in Disney deal

An online game featuring popular Disney characters will be launched in China next year, under an agreement between the US media giant and a local games company.

Disney and local partner Shanda Interactive Entertainment said that the game is designed to appeal to a broader audience than existing online games, such as female gamers. 

Shanda will develop, distribute and operate an "online casual game based on the magical worlds of Disney and featuring some of Disney's most popular animated characters".

The two companies did not say which characters would feature in the game.

Although the terms of the deal were not revealed, the announcement appears to be positive news for Shanda, one of China's oldest online gaming firms, which has been struggling to adjust to increasing competition.

Shanda built its early popularity, including a Nasdaq IPO, on the 'hack-and-slash' multiplayer online fantasy game Legend of Mir.

The company has been trying recently to shift its focus to a new business based on a home content delivery channel, but without much success.

"We believe that the addition of Disney's wholesome content will further broaden our user demographic, thus making a significant contribution to the implementation of our home strategy," said Shanda chairman and chief executive Tianqiao Chen.

The games agreement comes as part of a series of moves in which Disney is engaging more aggressively with the Chinese market.

"The Disney brand and its line-up of animated characters are already popular in China, and through this agreement we bring this well-known content to China's online game community in the form of an exciting new casual game," said Chen.

Disney characters are so popular, in fact, that they are still widely pirated in China despite the company's efforts to protect its property.

The company has opened a small Disneyland theme park in Hong Kong in an effort to cash in on the popularity of its creations, and huge interest from Chinese tourists has caused overcrowding problems at the park. 

Disney already offers a wide variety of online games that feature its characters, and is close to launching a massively multiplayer game based on the Pirates of the Caribbean series of movies. 

However, the company has focused on an English-speaking audience, and has only made a handful of simple online games available in Chinese through its local Chinese-language website.

Disney's agreement with Shanda appears to be its first serious foray into the Chinese online gaming market.