Naruto Getting Online Game

Dragon Ball and Digimon already have online MMORPGs, so I suppose that Naruto was due for one next. Later this year, Naruto will be getting an online game…but not in Japan. The game will be released in China. This is similar to what happened with Dragon Ball Online; instead of being released in Japan, the game was released in Korea.

The game is being co-developed by Namco Bandai Games and Tencent Games. CyberConnect 2 (Ultimate Ninja Storm, Asura’s Wrath, .hack//GU) will also be involved in the development the game, most likely in terms of gameplay and/or animation. This game will be Namco Bandai’s first PC game in China.

The Naruto franchise already has over 40 video games, with at least two more already on their way. The video games are based on the anime series, which is in turn based on the long-running manga, which is written by Masashi Kishimoto, and has been running in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1999, and currently has over 60 volumes, and has sold over 120 million copies, making it Shueisha’s fourth-highest selling manga series. Both the manga and anime adaption are licensed in North America by Viz Media, and the anime currently airs on Adult Swim’s Toonami block.

This online game will probably never make it to North American computers, but oh well. Maybe we’ll get some cool cutscenes, like in Dragon Ball Online.

Source: ANN