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Sriram Srinivasan

Chennai , Sept. 22

ONLINE game publisher Level Up has said it plans to introduce pre-paid cards at affordable price points to drive demand for Ragnarok, an online game which the company will officially launch early next year in India.

Ragnarok is a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) — it can be played by thousands of individuals at a time — created by South Korea's Gravity Corp; Level Up will distribute it in India.

The Indian version of the game — Indian Ragnarok Online — is currently being tested in select Sify iWays outlets and gaming kiosks in Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai, said Mr Ben Colayco, its Chief Operating Officer. From what has been observed in the test phase, over 200 individuals play the game during peak hours in India. The comparable figures for the Philippines and Thailand, where Ragnarok is well established, are 25,000 and 80,000, respectively, according to the company.

And although its pricing plans for the Indian market haven't been firmed up, Level Up is looking at something like Rs 50 for an eight-hour card. It may even introduce lower-denomination cards.

Mr Colayco said online gaming could be "a killer application" that will spur demand for high-speed Internet connection. Alternatively, if broadband prices come down, he said, online gaming could pick up.

The company, however, has no plans to run a mass media campaign. It wants to popularise Ragnarok among students by associating itself with various college events, as also apprise them of the various career options available in this industry.

At a later stage, it will look at revenues from merchandising too.

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