Tian Xia III takes place in an immersive fantasy world full of ancient Chinese mythology and philosophical undertones. The game features fast-paced combat that mixes twitch and dice-roll styles, as well as uncommonly deep narrative integration into quest chains and a visual aesthetic that draws on the architectural and tonal history of China. The game strongly emphasizes the creation of family structures between avatars, including marriage, utilizing a unique family system. As in most MMO’s, players benefit from collaboration, but NetEase intends to improve upon that by introducing mechanics like multi-passenger mounts, as well as content that can only be generated by multiple users working in concert.
BigWorld Pty Ltd, a developer of online game and MMO development middleware technology, is continuing a decade-long track record powering NetEase’s newest Chinese MMO, Tian Xia III
Chinese internet giant NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) is using BigWorld Technology to power its newest MMO, Tian Xia III (天下3), which has now entered beta. The game offers new quests, environments and features to build on the rich tapestry of Chinese mythology and innovative MMO design established by its predecessor, Tian Xia II, one of the most popular MMO’s in China. On beta launch day, thousands of players filed into Tian Xia III servers and a limited-edition box release sold out in less than 30 minutes.
Tian Xia III takes place in an immersive fantasy world full of ancient Chinese mythology and philosophical undertones. The game features fast-paced combat that mixes twitch and dice-roll styles, as well as uncommonly deep narrative integration into quest chains and a visual aesthetic that draws on the architectural and tonal history of China. The game strongly emphasizes the creation of family structures between avatars, including marriage, utilizing a unique family system. As in most MMO’s, players benefit from collaboration, but NetEase intends to improve upon that by introducing mechanics like multi-passenger mounts, as well as content that can only be generated by multiple users working in concert.
“Feedback from the alpha player community has indicated that NetEase has expertly wielded the BigWorld Technology tool suite to create another rich and immersive MMO, and we’re proud as ever to be powering the game” says Lei Guo, Director of Greater China Region at BigWorld.
NetEase originally chose BigWorld as its middleware solution because the technology offers an end-to-end solution for MMO development. Unlike traditional game middleware that offers only on the front-end client, BigWorld offers an end-to-end solution. BigWorld Server is a highly scalable back-end solution specifically optimized for the BigWorld Client, tools, plugins, instrumentation, and the rest of the BigWorld suite. BigWorld Server made it possible to scale rapidly to support bulging beta server with no down time.
NetEase Director Michael Tong says “we have found BigWorld Technology to be extremely flexible and robust. Our artists and world builders have found BigWorld’s content creation tools intuitive and very powerful …and the technical support is excellent. The good experience with BigWorld leads us to extend the BigWorld technology empowered product line.”
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About BigWorld
BigWorld Pty Ltd was formed in 2002, and has offices in Australia, Europe, USA and China. BigWorld Technology provides developers of online games a competitive advantage by significantly reducing risk, cost and time to market. The BigWorld Technology Suite includes a highly scalable and stable server, robust next-gen client, content creation tools, a library of 3rd party plugins, full support, and other accompanying tools. Multiple licensing options are available. More information at www.bigworldtech.com
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About NetEase
NetEase was founded in 1997, seeing its first major successes as a search engine provider. The company operates 163.com, a popular and heavily-trafficked web portal that was the 28th most visited site in the world in April 2010, according to Alexas’ internet rankings. The company expanded to develop MMO’s, developing titles like Fantasy Westward Journey. NetEase became one of BigWorld’s first Asian customers when the Australian middleware developer first entered Asia over ten years ago. The company has since developed multiple successful titles on the technology, including Tian Xia II and Genesis: Journey to the West. More information at http://tx3.163.com/
Netease has officially brought Tian Xia III into closed beta. Simultaneously, they’ve launched a new site that provides loads of visual and textual information about the upcoming BigWorld-powered MMO successor to Tian Xia II.
Netease promulgated the upcoming Tian Xia III MMO beta by renting out an aircraft carrier, in which they staged sword fights between the dev team, and demonstrated the upcoming BigWorld-powered title. Tian Xia II, its predecessor, has been one of the biggest MMO successes in China, and Netease seems to be taking this into account with their promotion of the successor.
Chinese film starlette Yang Mi has signed as their official spokesperson, and is featured prominently in action shots on the game’s posters.
Among games components they introduced are romantic two-player mounts (you and your loved one riding on the shoulders of a yeti, imagine) and some as-of-yet-unclarified component of user-created content support.
Netease promulgated the upcoming 
