Large Animal Games and Starz Digital Media Unleash 'Spartacus: The Game' on China's Sina Weibo Network

NEW YORK, May 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Large Animal Games, independent developer of unique social games, and Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand licensing arm of Starz, have released Spartacus: The Game on Sina Weibo, a leading Chinese social networking site. The game is being distributed on Sina by GOnline and is currently the fastest-growing game on the network.

Spartacus: The Game allows players to run their own gladiator school, leading a team of fighters to victory in the Roman Empire's most elite gladiatorial arenas. Players combine training, recruitment, and equipment upgrades to ensure their gladiators' dominance in the ring. The competition is just as intense off the battlefield: players can earn "Influence Points" and use them to bribe officials and sway the outcome of fights.

"The Spartacus franchise has been Starz Digital Media's most successful business extension from a STARZ Original series, and we are very pleased to launch Spartacus: The Game in China," said Mara Winokur, SVP, digital media distribution for Starz Media. "Millions of fans of the epic STARZ series and social gaming have played the Spartacus game, and we look for many new fans from China to enjoy the Spartacus gaming experience."

Spartacus: The Game and its sequel, Spartacus: Vengeance the Game, have already been published on Facebook to great acclaim. David Wei, Head of Business Development at GOnline, sees the series' release on Sina as a landmark event. "We are extremely excited to work with Large Animal to bring Spartacus: The Game to China. It is the first, officially licensed, American TV show-inspired social game in the country."

"Given GOnline's expertise in bringing quality social content to Chinese markets, we look forward to a wide new audience for Spartacus: The Game," says Wade Tinney, CEO of Large Animal. "Our partnership with Starz Digital Media has met with proven success in the past, and this new venture builds on that achievement."

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About Large Animal Games

Large Animal has been developing and publishing unique casual games for over 11 years. Their focus is on social games for networks such as Facebook and Google+, and mobile games for iOS and Android. Their Spartacus: The Game™, Picturiffic™, and Lucky Cruise™ games garner hundreds of thousands of monthly users and are powered by Toga™, their advanced social application platform. More information is available at http://www.largeanimal.com.

About Starz Digital Media

Starz Digital Media, an operating division of Starz Media, LLC, is responsible for all digital and on-demand distribution of content from Anchor Bay Entertainment, Starz Originals from Starz Entertainment, Manga Entertainment, and other select entertainment providers. Through a range of distribution and marketing partnerships with multichannel video providers, Internet distributors and wireless operators worldwide, Starz Digital Media makes its content available under numerous business models including download-to-own/electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, subscription video-on-demand and ad-supported streaming. The division also programs and supports numerous ad-supported broadband channels and develops games, applications and other related content from many of its properties for distribution worldwide.

About GOnline

GOnline is China's first and largest vertically integrated entertainment social networking site -- combining anime, online gaming, and social networking. GOnline licenses and operates top overseas social games on its platform, as well as other leading social networking sites in China.

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Large Animal and Large Animal Games are registered trademarks of Large Animal Games. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners, without intent to infringe.

PR Contact:
Wade Tinney
[email protected]
212-989-4312

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Large Animal Games