Daewoo Information sells "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "Xuanyuan Sword" game IP
The IPs of childhood classic Xianxia games "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "Xuanyuan Sword" have been sold!
Multiple Taiwanese media reported that Daewoo Information yesterday (11th) announced the sale of related intellectual property rights for a total of NT$500 million. Among them, the global IP of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" excluding mainland China was sold to the CMGE subsidiary of China Mobile Games Group. The global IP of "Xuanyuan Sword" was sold to Hong Kong Huandong Company.
"Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "Xuanyuan Sword" are called "Daewoo Double Swords" by the industry. They were popular stand-alone games in Taiwan and China in the millennium. "Legend of Sword and Fairy" starring Hu Ge and Liu Yifei was adapted The TV series is the memory of a generation.
Source: Daewoo Information sells "Legend of Sword and Fairy" and "Xuanyuan Sword" game IP
"Legend of Sword and Fairy": The pride of domestic games
According to the introduction of "Bahamut Video Game Madness", in the millennium, Taiwan's stand-alone game manufacturers were contending with hundreds of schools of thought. Zhiguan, who obtained Jin Yong's authorization, launched "Swordsman" and "Jin Yong's Heroes"; Yu Jun obtained the authorization from Gu Long and released the "New Peerless Two Pride" series.
Among them, "Legend of Sword and Fairy" launched by Daewoo is known as the most influential domestic RPG masterpiece. Its unique original story that combines mythology and fairy tales has become popular on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and three places, and has many movies. Sequels and extensions of the main story.
"Bahamut Video Game Madness" pointed out that the peak of domestic martial arts games lasted until 2002, when a 3D game called "Meteor Butterfly Sword.net" was born, which promoted 3D action martial arts and online gamification. trend. Since then, domestic stand-alone martial arts games have gradually declined, with online games dominating the market.
Picture source: Meteor Butterfly Sword, an epoch-making domestic martial arts game "Meteor Butterfly Sword.net"
The IPs of Fairy Sword and Xuanyuan Sword have not yet achieved greater glory.
In the past ten years, Daewoo has also made many attempts on its IP. Including the launch of "Xuanyuan Sword Online" or the "genuinely authorized" "Sword of Immortality" mobile game, and even following the trend into the metaverse and creating a virtual space in "The Sandbox".
However, the performance of the sequel to the main sequel of "Sword and Sword" that players are really looking forward to has faced mixed reviews after being handled by multiple generations of studios. At present, the latest stand-alone game of "Sword and Fairy" is "Legend of Sword and Fairy 7". Some players lamented: "Sword and Fairy has fallen" and criticized the gameplay as mediocre, the plot is boring, and the characters' faces are also very stiff.
The sudden rise of "Legend of Living Heroes" can save domestic martial arts?
Regarding the news of Daewoo's sale of important IP, many PTT netizens lamented: "Tears of the times" and "It has really become a (Chinese) domestic IP". Some even compared it to "Black Myth: Wukong" launched by China Game Science. It is believed that Taiwan’s gaming industry has been completely destroyed by China.
However, domestic martial arts stand-alone games are not completely without a future.
In 2024, "Legend of the Living Hero" produced by the original Bird Bear relied on the special character of "Tangmen Ugly Hero" Zhao Huo and exquisite story text to surprise the market. On the first day of its launch on Steam, it attracted nearly 25,000 simultaneous views. The online record is also highly discussed in the Baha discussion forum and PTT Xiqia version. It even broke through the country and became a best-selling game on Steam in South Korea.
Picture source: Legend of Living Heroes Taiwan's popular martial arts stand-alone game "Legend of Living Heroes"
Can the sudden rise of "Legend of Living Heroes" bring Taiwan's martial arts games to another peak? On the PTT Xiqia Edition, most players took a pessimistic view, believing that the Taiwanese game market is small, and "Legend of the Living Heroes" is just a lone star with little influence; but some people believe that although it is impossible to rely on just one game to save the entire field, but it can make people look forward to this piece of pie and be willing to invest in it.
Another netizen made a pertinent comment: The key lies in the plot rather than martial arts. The subject matter is not the reason for the decline of martial arts, but the lack of good works.
Looking at the Taiwanese game market in recent years, in addition to specific themes (H Game), most of the well-received stand-alone games are closely related to text, such as the "Back to School", "Return of a Wish" and "OPUS" series. Daewoo, which sold the Dual Swords IP, has also been developing text-focused horror games in recent years. Not only has it launched the movie "Bridge of Ghosts" adapted from the movie, but also "The Curse", which will be released soon, shows that it is adjusting its development strategy in line with market trends.
