Take-Two announces Civilization Online for Asia

Publisher Take-Two Interactive announced a new massively multiplayer online game this morning called Civilization Online (working title). Based on the existing Civilization franchise, the new game is an online-only experience designed for the Asian market.

Take-Two is producing Civilization Online with South Korean-based studio XL Games and its chief executive officer Jake Song, whose Korean MMORPG Lineage has pulled in over 43 million players. XL Games previously signed a MMORPG development contract with 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, in June 2011.

Series creator Firaxis Games — whose latest effort, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, released earlier this month — have been working with XL Games to develop Civilization Online. Song is leading a team of more than 100 people in Seoul, making it one of the largest online game projects in South Korea.

“Over the last four years, we have been focused on creating an ambitious portfolio of online and social games with some of the most revered companies in Asia such as Tencent in China, Nexon Korea Corporation and XL Games in Korea, and Gree and CyberAgent in Japan,” added Hubert Larenaudie, the president of Take-Two Asia.

Take-Two has been overseeing other recent online and mobile social games in Asia including NBA 2K Online, NBA 2K All-Stars, and Pro Baseball 2K.

“The consumer response for NBA 2K All-Stars and NBA 2K Online has been very encouraging," said Larenaudie. "With the upcoming releases of Pro Baseball 2K and Civilization Online, Take-Two is uniquely positioned to delight gamers throughout Asia."

Follow @wita on Twitter.