By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net

PHILIPPINE online game publisher IP e-Games said it was already looking into licensing a new online game that will help the company break into the regional market.

IP e-Games is a fully owned subsidiary of publicly listed firm IPVG Corp.

In its annual stockholder’s meeting, IPVG said that part of its planned acquisitions this year are related to its online games business that would help propel the company to growth markets such as Vietnam.

“It is one of the most anticipated online games,” said Steve Tsao, president of IP e-Games, as he disclosed that the company was planning to acquire this new game this year, in an interview after the meeting.

Tsao confirmed that the new acquisition will help IP e-Games penetrate the regional market for online games.

Asked if the company was eyeing Blizzard’s World of Warcraft, the executive said, “It is not WOW,” referring to the game but added “it is the next biggest game.”

In its annual stockholders meeting, IPVG chief executive officer Enrique Gonzalez said the company now owns 55 percent of the market for online games, claiming that three of the top four games in the country are published by its subsidiary.

IPVG said the revenues from its online gaming subsidiary has slightly dropped to P66.26 million during the second quarter of this year from P67.21 during the first quarter of 2007, the company disclosed during its stockholder’s meeting.

Gonzalez said the drop in revenues could be attributed to “seasonal drop in business” and acquisitions made by IP e-Games this year.

Tsao said the acquisition involved the licensing of Granado Espada.

The subsidiary’s net income also dropped to P1.49 million during the second quarter of this year from P8.81 million for the first quarter of 2007.

Tsao stressed that the company expects revenues to kick in once Granado Espada becomes commercial next month.

IP e-Games is the publisher of RAN Online, O2 Jam, Audition, Supreme Destiny and Granado Espada in the Philippines.

Granado Espada, which is currently on open beta, is scheduled to go commercial in August. It was produced by game designer Hakkyu Kim who was also the designer and developer of Ragnarok.

Gonzalez said that the Philippine online gaming market continues to grow by more than 50 percent every year, “outpacing the internet industry as a whole.”

IP e-Games said it now has about 2 million active users, and an average of 40,000 concurrent users a month, added Tsao.

Meanwhile, Tsao disclosed that Granado Espada has about 300,000 registered users from the Philippines now playing the open beta version.

Overall, IPVG reported that its first-half revenues of 2007 grew five times year-on-year to P335 million from P65.4 million of the same period last year.

IPVG said that one of its growth drivers for the second half was its online game business.