OpenFeint and The9 Partner Over Game Development on Android

Recently, leading cross platform social gaming network OpenFeint announced the signing of a partnership with The9, an online game operator and developer in China, in an attempt to offer top game developers a helpful hand to port their titles to Google's Android operating system.

According to the duo, the initiative is backed by the $100 million Fund9, a mobile Internet development fund based in China.

OpenFeint and The9 announced plans to review and select top games, and to offer funding for their porting to Google's Android operating system.

Moreover, these games would benefit from OpenFeint integration.

The pair would also choose a series of games to expand to China, and plans on facilitating their localization.

According to them, games would be chosen based on their quality, as well as on the download performance they already enjoy in other app stores, and, of course, on the strength of the game developer.

Developers interested in participating in this initiative should send an email to androidfund [at] openfeint [dot] com to announce their interest on the matter.

“We launched on Android to bring gamers great content. We've already helped launch 250 great games, but there's still work to do,” said Eros Resmini, VP of Marketing at OpenFeint.

“There's a treasure trove of great games on iOS waiting for the rest of the world to discover. This fund will help make that possible for indie game developers.”

The $100 million Fund9 invests in mobile app, game engine, and platform technology developers.

“Fund9 is focused on bringing the best mobile apps and platform technologies to China. Our partnership with OpenFeint is a great first step. We are excited to see some great games on Android devices in China soon,” said Chris Shen, Vice President at The9.

OpenFeint is the largest cross platform social gaming network in the world, with a number of more than 68 million players that enjoy over 4,800 games.

OpenFeint arrived on Android in September last year, and already delivered a series of top 10 hirts on the platform, including Fruit Ninja, Super KO Boxing 2, and Flick Kick Field Goal Kickoff.