IGG Inc. (I Got Games, also previously known as Internet Gaming Gate) is a Chinese

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

and publisher. The company was founded in 2006 in

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

, China. IGG is now headquartered in Singapore, namely "IGG Singapore Pte. Ltd." (formerly "Sky Union Pte. Ltd."), since 2009 and has branches in China, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Belarus, Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong. IGG is best known for the development of

mobile games A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game conso ...

such as ''

Lords Mobile ''Lords Mobile'' is a real-time strategy and construction game developed and published by IGG Inc., IGG. It was released on Android (operating system), Android, iOS, and Steam (service), Steam globally on 14 March 2016. The game is free to play a ...

'', ''Castle Clash'', ''Clash of Lords'', and for formerly publishing various

massively multiplayer online games A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or more commonly MMO) is an online video game with a large number of players to interact in the same online game world. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent world, persistent open world, although t ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. IGG has been listed by App Annie as one of the "Top 52 Publishers" for seven consecutive years. "Lords Mobile", launched in 2016, is IGG’s first cross-platform, multi-language, real-time game designed for global gamers. As at 30 June 2020, it has approximately 320 million registered users worldwide. According to App Annie, "Lords Mobile" had dominated the worldwide rankings as the top-grossing mobile war strategy game for two consecutive years since its launch.

Company

IGG primarily focuses on the research and development of

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s and software, but is also not limited to its other functions of business such as operations, product promotions and e-commerce. Mobile games are by far IGG's biggest products, which include

. MMORPGs include GodsWar Online, Voyage Century Online,

Wonderland Online ''Wonderland Online'' () is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by the Taiwanese company Chinese Gamer International. The North American version of the game was published by IGG Inc., which ran from 2008 to 2019. T ...

, Tales of Pirates, Myth War Online. IGG has also developed multiple streaming platforms such as WeGamers and Pocketlive. On October 18, 2013 IGG was listed on the

Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (, SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. It is one of the largest stock exchanges in Asia and the List of major stock exchanges, 9th largest globally by market ...

, followed by an official transfer on July 7, 2015 from being on the

GEM A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. Certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, an ...

board to the Main Board with the current stock number of 799.HK. In January 2016 IGG was voted as the "Most Promising HKEx Listed Companies" in the 13th China's Financial Annual Champion Awards. In the selection of Top 50 Global Mobile Game Company held by Pocket Gamer, IGG ranked the 17th. In May, it launched new game ''Lords Mobile'' in North American, ranked TOP 2 in American IOS F2P list. Lords Mobile also won the "Best Competitive Game" followed by an Android Excellence award in 2017. In 2013, IGG transformed to a "mid-core" operator from a "hard-core" game maker. IGG also established development centres in 10 countries and hired developers from different countries in 2019.

Free-to-play model

Free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

, also known as F2P or FtP, refers to

s which give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying. Since the company's creation, games of IGG has traditionally followed a

freemium model Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical (o ...

where players can play a fully functional game for free, but also have the opportunity to upgrade their gaming experience through a variety of

microtransaction Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions ...

s. While supporters argue that F2P games give the players more financial freedom as to how much each individual player wants to play, critics of the system have claimed that the F2P model unfairly favors players who spend more on each game as shown by all games of this type across all the available platforms.

Non-mobile game products

''WeGamers'' Was a social app launched in June 2016 to help players of IGG games to become more connected. The players could use this app as a way to discuss game strategies, to call for other players when in battle, or to simply chat like any other social app. ''Link Messenger'' is a messenger app launched in December 2015. Contrary to WeGamers, this app is similar to other messaging apps and not specifically targeted for the gaming community. WeGamers close the servers on July 22, 2022

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.igg.com/ Mobile game companies Chinese companies established in 2006 Video game companies of Singapore Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange