Chinese game firms are looking for overseas investments, and CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation (CHINA), has just signed a definitive agreement to invest in Auran, an online games developer in Australia.

This is CDC Games' latest investment as part of its previously announced establishment of CDC Games Studio, a wholly owned subsidiary of CDC Games that will have up to US$100 million in investment funding. CDC Games Studio invests in strategic games development partners to accelerate the development of new and original online games for the China market along with supporting emerging games developers with the resources they need to rapidly develop innovative products for distribution in China and targeted global regions. CDC Games Studio also supports emerging game developers which may already have operations in China or are seeking to relocate or expand into China.

CDC Games says it will invest about US$3 million in Auran, and in exchange for providing Auran with strategic advice, CDC Games also will obtain certain rights to receive a percentage of revenues received from Fury. With this investment, John Lee, president of CDC Games, will serve on Auran's board of directors. Auran, one of Australia's most experienced developers of highly successful online games, plans to launch Fury, an innovative game that blends MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and FPS (first person shooter) genres, later this year.

"Our investment in Auran will provide us with innovative and highly popular online games, such as Fury, for our China market that will fuel our continued strong growth," said John Lee, president of CDC Games. "We are confident that this will be a highly successful partnership based on Auran's extensive expertise and proven track record in developing widely popular and innovative online games for the global marketplace."