| Type | Public (NASDAQ: SNDA) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer and video game industry |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
| Revenue | $156.917 million USD (2004) |
| Operating income | $61.737 million USD (2004) |
| Net income | $73.640 million USD (2004) |
| Employees | 1,429 |
| Website | snda.com |
Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited (Chinese: 盛大互动娱乐有限公司; pinyin: Shèngdà Hùdòng Yúlè Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī; NASDAQ: SNDA) is a Chinese operator of online games and book publisher,[1] based in Shanghai, established in December 1999 by Chen Tianqiao and Chen Danian. In 2005 it claimed to have 460 million registered accounts and an average of 1.2 million players at any given time. Its 2004 listing on the US-based NASDAQ stock exchange raised $151.8 million USD. In September 2001, Shanda published its first game, The Legend of Mir II (Licensed from a Korean company, WeMade Soft).
Shanda's published and operated games include AION, MapleStory, The World of Legend, The Sign, The Age, Magical Land, Ragnarok Online, D.O., Dungeons & Dragons Online, Bomb and Bubble, Shanda Rich Man, Warlord of the Three Kingdoms, GetAmped.
On February 29, 2005, Shanda announced a purchase of about 20% of the portal website SINA.com, targeting digital media markets. However, Shanda did not gain control over the board of trustees. On February 8, 2007, Shanda sold 4 million shares of Sina for $129 million, after Shanda transformed into a digital entertainment portal.
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In 2003, a dispute over profit sharing caused relationship to fracture between Shanda and Korean game-developer Wemade Entertainment. No longer able to operate The Legend of Mir 2 (Chinese: 热血传奇), Shanda developed game The World of Legend (Chinese:传奇世界), which began operation in June 2003. Shanda transferred all user data from The Legend of Mir 2 into the new game, promising its customers that their character, points, armors and weapons will remain the same. Wemade Entertainment deemed The World of Legend to be a copy of Mir 2 and sued Shanda for copyright infringement in October 2003. After a prolonged legal battle, the two companies reached a settlement on April 26, 2009.[2]
On April 2, 2004, a Mir 2 game player threatened to set himself on fire in the lobby of Shanda Customer Service Building. It was later revealed that Shanda considered some of the armors and weapons this customer bought offline with cash to be illegal and deleted them without the person's consent.[3]
On November 28 and 29, 2005, Shanda abruptly announced that its multiplayer online role-playing games Magical Land and The World of Legend will forever be free of charge.
Following Shanda's example, other Chinese on-line game operators also declared that their games will be free.
In reality, once Shanda games became "free," average customer spending increased from 30 Chinese yuan per quarter to 55 Chinese yuan per quarter. Shanda merely changed the way it charges for fees in its games.[4]
In July 2008, Shanda Interactive Entertainment Limited announced the establishment of Shanda Literature Limited. Former Sina Executive Editor Xiaoqiang Hou (Chinese:侯小强) became the CEO of this business unit. Shanda Literature owns three literature websites: Qidian, Hongxiu, and Jinjiang, capturing 80% of the market share in Chinese entertainment literature.
Towards the end of 2009, Shanda Literature announced its intention to sue Chinese Search Engine Baidu.com for not excluding online pirated literature works in its search results. By providing links to pirated sites, Shanda Literature claims that Baidu.com violates its rights and reduces its profits.[5]
Meanwhile, Shanda heavily promotes infamous writer Guo Jingming[6] and signed on plagiarist vivibear as one of its new novelists despite of protest from readers.[7][8]
Aurora Technology is a subsidiary of Shanda. It publishes the MMORPG King of the World.
At the end of the fourth Quarter of 2010, Shanda Interactive Entertainment recorded operating revenues of CNY 1.5383 billion or USD 232.3 million, climbing 11% from a quarter earlier and 2% from a year ago.[10]