Yoozoo Games

Yoozoo Games (trading name of Youzu Interactive) is a video game developer and publisher of browser and mobile games, primarily massively multiplayer online games (MMORPG), in Asia, Europe and North America. The company was founded in 2009 by Lin Qi, created GTArcade and started publishing its titles overseas in 2013,[2] and was listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange in 2014.[3]

Yoozoo Games
Native name
游族网络有限股份公司
Yóuzú Wǎngluò Yǒuxiàn Gǔfèn Gōngsī
TypeLimited partnership
SZSE: 002174
IndustryVideo games
Founded2009[1]
FounderLin Qi
Headquarters
Shanghai 
Number of employees
2000
Websiteglobal.yoozoo.com

Many of its games obtain revenue from the sale of virtual goods[4] and the majority are developed in-house. Its most popular international game is a browser-based MMORPG titled League of Angels. This game began as a stand-alone game for the Chinese market but later was adapted for a growing international market. The game was released in English-speaking countries in late 2013 and now has over 300 servers in operation.[5]

History

Lin Qi (Chinese: 林奇；pinyin: LINQI, born in 1981 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang), also known as Titan Lin, was a Chinese entrepreneur and founder of Youzu Interactive. The company, which produces games for both its home markets and overseas markets, was acquired by Susino Umbrella[6] in an all-stock deal in 2014. Lin Qi owned approximately 100.9 million shares of Youzu, which were last valued at $2.2 billion, according to Wealth-X.[7] On December 25, 2020, Lin Qi died at age 39. He was allegedly poisoned on December 16 by one of his colleagues.[8][9]

Youzu Games HongKong Limited was founded in early 2013 in Hong Kong[10] and focuses on localizing and operating massively multiplayer games in North America and Europe. In 2016, Youzu bought German online game developer Bigpoint for $89.7 million.[11]

Video games

League of Angels
League of Angels II promotion at gamescom 2016

League of Angels (Abbreviation: LoA) is an MMORPG released in December 2013 by Youzu Interactive.[12] LoA's China release took place in July 2013, with the North American version following shortly in December of that year.[13] League of Angels was chosen in December 2014 as one of the best new games on Facebook for that year following the release of the 'Pulsating Boobs' update.[14]

League of Angels II (also League of Angels 2 or LoA2) is the 2016 sequel to the 2013 game. Its impending release was announced on March 15,[15] and a 5,000-player closed beta ran from March 24[16] to 31,[17] then replaced with an open beta. It launched on April 8 in North America,[18] and two weeks later there was a free gold giveaway to promote playing.[19] The game's European release occurred on May 19.[20] The game's first multilanguage release (English, French, German, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese) was released on May 26,[21] then in Portuguese and Spanish on June 23.[22][23]

Other games

References
  1. "YOOZOO Games". YOOZOO Games.
  2. MJ, Guthrie. "League of Angels starts closed beta on December 4th". Massively by Joystiq. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  3. "Youzu Interactive Co Ltd". Bloomberg.
  4. "Audit Report & Financial Statements (From 1 January 2011 to 31 August 2013)" (PDF). cninfo.com.cn. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  5. "League of Angels Server List". League of Angels Official Website.
  6. "SUSINO UMBRELLA CO., LTD". www.susino.com. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  7. "Wealth-X Reveals: Asia's Top 10 Wealthiest Millennials". Wealth-X. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  8. Aquilina, Tyler. "Lin Qi, producer on Game of Thrones creators' Netflix series, dies after suspected poisoning". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  9. "Yoozoo Games CEO Lin Dies at 39 Amid Poisoning Probe". Bloomberg.com. 2020-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  10. "YOUZU GAMES HONGKONG LIMITED". Webb-site.
  11. "China's Youzu Interactive buys German online game developer Bigpoint for $89.7M". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2016-04-10.
  12. "Youzu COO Talks League of Angels' Wes tern Operation, Marketing, & More". F2P NEWS. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  13. Minotti, Mike (15 December 2014). "League of Angels teams up with Facebook to find Western success". VentureBeat. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  14. Morris, Daniel (9 December 2014). "Facebook's 2014 Games of the Year". Facebook. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  15. "League of Angels II Ushers in a New Age for MMORPGs _ League of Angels II Official Site".
  16. "LoA II Closed Beta Successfully Launched!_League of Angels II Official Site".
  17. "March 31st : Farewell Closed Beta, Hello Open Beta! - GTArcade".
  18. "Angels Descend: League of Angels II Launches today in North America". Gamasutra. 8 April 2016.
  19. "League of Angels II giveaway". PCGamesN. 22 April 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016.
  20. "League Of Angels 2 - Découvrez LoA 2".
  21. "League of Angels II Launching Multi-Language Edition".
  22. "Spanish and Portuguese Will Be Available on June 23rd!".
  23. Zou, Michelle (22 June 2016). "League of Angels II Now Available in Spanish and Portuguese". Business Wire.
  24. "We catch up with Youzu to get the inside track on Legacy of Discord – Furious Wings". Pocket Gamer. 15 November 2016. From the developers who brought you other great titles including League of Angels – Fire Raiders and Youth of the Three Kingdoms
  25. Johnson, Neilie. "Knights Fable Open Beta Begins May 29th". mmorpg.com. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
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