MDV funds game portal

MALAYSIA Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) has approved a RM61mil loan to Terra ICT (M) Sdn Bhd for the latter to establish a massive multi-player online game portal in Cyberjaya. 

Terra chief executive officer Tom Tamura said the loan would be used mainly to start efforts in setting up a gaming portal as well as acquiring distribution rights for content and game source codes. 

He said the financial assistance would also be used for securing the necessary resources for the creation of the company's local content development team. 

Tom Tamura

Terra's portal www.e-games.com.my, slated to be launched in September, is believed to be the world's first virtual department store of online games. 

It would offer dozens of high quality game titles ranging from sports, action and board games to the highly popular massive multi-player online role play games. 

“Our objectives are two-fold. First, we aim to develop Terra into a regional (South-East Asia) distributor of online game via our portal and, second, to become a premier online game content producer in Asia and globally. 

“Terra also aims to develop online game content for the Asian and global markets using Malaysian development team,'' Tamura said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday after the loan approval ceremony and the launch of Terra. 

Terra is a joint venture between Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd and Terra Corp Japan. 

Tamura said Terra ICT would launch at least 15 English online game titles within the next 12 months. By next August, it hoped to come up with Malaysia's very first online game title. 

Terra expects one million subscribers for its online game portal by 2007. Tamura said Terra hoped to achieve Multimedia Super Corridor status by the year-end. 

MDV managing director Jiro Suzuki said the loan for Terra brought MDV's total approved loan value to RM450mil to date. 

This amount represented assistance to about 21 companies involved in activities ranging from electronic commerce to security and wireless systems, e-education as well as content development and marine technology. 

MDV aims to approve RM800mil worth of loans by the end of its fiscal year to March 2004.