There is a new browser MMO on the block and it is called Kingory. It appears to be exactly the same as Evony. And it admits to being Chinese. So what is happening here?
The copyright notice for the game says: © 2009 Feng Investment Ltd & Luosimin Company. But neither of these companies show up on a Google search.
The only other information about their provenance I can find is this:
RXSG (English version) Kingory developed and copyright © 2008 – 2009 JoyPort UUYX (China). P.R. China Internet Culture Business License Permit: 2005-075 All rights reserved.
RXSG English translation and Kingory.com copyright © 2009 and authorized distribution by Feng Investment Ltd. in association with Luosimin Company. All rights reserved.
United States & Canada Service 24×7 Toll-Free Privacy and Copyright Infringement Report Hotline: +1 (888) 978-2757
The phone number they give is that for the US office of Quarkr, a Chinese drop shipping company. Who boast on their website: Some other enablers might do well for themselves but their shady anti-counterfeit goods measures shun legitimate dropshippers and retailers alike.
On the Kingory website there is a forum, on which they have made the following post:
Are we a copycat of Evony?
We often meet questions like this: Are we a copy of Evony? Now we are issuing the following statement to clear your doubts if any.
Kingory (RSXG) has been around since mid-2008. We’re the 1st in our genre, beating all others in terms of gameplay hands down. Though often copied skin-deep, we have not yet seen one copycat with the full-fledged features that we have, especially our unique web-based real-time battle simulation system and PvP & PvE Arena.
Like Evony they have a system where you pay money for in game items. Whether this is a version of in game gold farming I cannot say at this point:
It’s time to build a powerful empire!
In a world pierced by bloody battles such as Kingory, it is imperative that you get ahead other cunning opponents, especially as you are starting from scratch! Use all sorts of useful Items with care and judgment and soon your empire shall thrive!
Details
If this is your first time to pay for Diamonds, you are in for a treat. Paying at least 30 Dollars for 300 Diamonds entitles you to receive Bonus Gifts Set worth 180 Diamonds.That’s 30 USD = 300 Diamonds + 180 Diamonds.
Certainly the $30 payments and bonuses will be familiar to any Evony player.
So what is going on here? The following possibilities are just pure speculation and are not in any way based on facts.
- Maybe Kingory is just another trading vehicle for the Lam brothers/UMGE/WoWMine etc.
- Maybe the Lam brother sold the use of Evony to separate people who are behind Kingory.
- Maybe the people behind Kingory sold the use of the game to the Lam brothers
- Maybe the Lam brother “borrowed” the game from Kingory.
- Maybe Kingory “borrowed” the game from Evony.
- Maybe there is a separate organisation that wrote the game and sold it to both of them.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Especially if Kingory use the same black hat marketing techniques that have been used to promote Evony.
32 comments ↓
Kingory appears to be an older, less polished version of Civony. The game play is exactly the same.
What’s amazingly funny is the dollar amounts they list for buying game currency. They have an option for spending $3000 that recurs every 90 days.
I really think the Chinese designers behind these games don’t have a clue about what a US dollar is worth, or have a problem figuring out where to put the decimal point.
There are some interesting points raised here. Indeed, ironically, I looked into Kingory earlier today myself and found, that like Evony, it downloads two files into one’s computer without consent. I have just removed these from my machine so other users may wish to check their own computers too, as there is no warning at the point the files are downloaded on to your computer. A former international journalist that has just witnessed this on her machine describes this as being naughty. Also naughty is the fact that the terms and conditions are pre-clicked, so a person can enter Kingory without realising they need to read and check them properly. In this respect, inexperienced users may not even realise that Kingory files are placed into their machine or that they have inadvertently bypassed the terms and conditions.
It is not uncommon for games to be coded by designers who sell these to companies or form secondary shell companies. This does not only happen in China but in other locations too. Such companies may in fact be competitors with each other, but it does raise the question as to how such games are maintained.
I have noticed that Kingory adverts are starting to appear on my searches, certainly on YouTube – this appears to be a familiar sign. It also states that it is free to play forever and this appears to be a familiar sign too. But currently, there are no pictures of female cleavages.
In the opinion of the journalist I am talking to, Kingory uses poor grammar and at times unusual nouns to describe things. This is because the in-game text would appear to be using poorly translated English from another language. Evony of course was the same at first.
However, I did notice one thing of amusement while in the game and that is many that are entering do mention the game Evony. Ironically I found at least two moderators there working non-stop to sanction users for mentioning others games and for profanity. Some players openly admitted that they would be returning to Evony due to the sanctioning they were witnessing.
Oh, and did you happen to notice the roulette wheel in Kingory…
AC
A little bit of background on Kingory. It’s actually the US version of 热血三国, which is actually a well-known and fairly old Chinese browser game. You can see the Singapore version here: http://sg.uuyx.com and the Chinese version here: http://rxsg.youxi.com.
It has been alleged by some that Evony lifted code from Kingory, which accounts for the similarities in presentation and gameplay. But the two games are definitely not by the same developer or publisher.
It’s unfortunate that they chose the name ‘Kingory’ when they localized the game, as the actual game is translated as Bloody Conflict of the Three Kingdoms. Which is why I guess they ended up calling it ‘King + Gory.’ I’m also guessing they saw the success of Evony and decided to try their hand at it. The games market in China is such that everyone is trying to find a strategy that will stick. The exposure that Evony received (good or bad) appears to have emboldened some of the other game companies.
As for the Kung Fu Panda ads. There’s really no excuse for that.
Correction: The first link is not the Singapore version. The ’sg’ stands for San Guo, which means Three Kingdoms. The game is actually distributed through several publishers; there’s also a Malaysian version and a Taiwan version.
By the way, if you search for 热血三国 and Evony, you can find some discussion and accusations about the similarities between the games on Chinese message boards.
Ok ppl you need to understand that a game like this could be produced and running under 3 months by a standard programmer, simple use of php, images and sql database’s. There is nothing special about these types of web base, fake RTS games. They get ideas off each other just like the normal progression of games in the professional retail industry. Not much is gained by buying or selling these games but there is a market for them. they go for about $2k US or less, as a pro programmer could bust is out in a week. so no real point worrying where the game came from. These simple games are atm super popular in facebook, and the mass amount of advertising would be Evony’s way for combating a slow market. These business types are more into profit then anything else, therefore the low quality game and high amount of adverts.
Any way Bruce u have an advert, i hope u put your .005c u get from me being on ur website to something useful.
@Red Flag.
Games like these take a lot more time and a lot more work than you think. You are several orders of magnitude out in your estimations.
Some Kingory claims:
FREE Play for Life!
World’s most-played web game!
600+ servers & 40 million players
Simulation of real war combat
30 strategems & combat systems
914 high heroes, 2000+ quests
Instant access, no installation
Play anywhere via your browser
Is there anything else going off in the world apart from Evony?
@bruce
@redflag
Bruce, in todays market with the internet with people working 24 hours a day on a project – these games can be knocked out factory production style.
Once the basic scripts and programming are sourced they roll out like ticker tape at a carnival.
A search on Google of UUYX JoyPort will shows 189 results relating to this China-based game company with their post on some major recruitment web portals recruiting programmers and game designers. I’ve been to the E3 in China. They call it ChinaJoy Expo. I looked up on ChinaJoy’s official site. UUYX is one of the exhibitors in 2009. They certainly became one of the spotlights.
Google “joyport chinajoy” then you’d see http://www.joyport.cn/chinajoy/ showing some of their events photos.
JoyPort’s CEO displayed in ChinaJoy’s main site.
http://2009.chinajoy.net/html/Article/2008/0705/20080705170657160.html
The Expo promoted him as one of the keynote speaker. I looked up one of the most popular game info site in China, 17173.com, and I found an interview of him.
http://web.17173.com/content/2009-01-21/20090121140351215.shtml
Again, clearly, it’s the same guy with the same photo.
So I guess that’s basically the guy and his company which Kingory claimed as the developer of their game. I am thinking I should write a letter to JoyPort to report Kingory and to see if Kingory.com is really their authorized English version distributor.
I cannot help but think if this guy is the true mastermind behind Evony(Civony) and the gold farming industry. A glamorized front but a dark infantry of scheming companies on his back to milk cash from virtual items players.
Or is it the other way around? He’s only a puppet?! Well, maybe I’ve had too much coffee… cheers!
Hi Bruce,
I like your Blog.
I have been seeing ads for a game “EmpireCraft”. Is this another Evony clone? Same owner?
From their website:
Kingory is the international version the Flash-based strategic MMO game RXSG (热血三国) which is not only the best web game but the most-played: 40 million players has registered and 600 servers are active (as of June 2009). It consists of 5 resources, 10 armaments, 5 city defenses, and 21 stratagems and combat systems.
914 high heroes and infinite number of random heroes with different traits and properties are at your disposal. Revolutionary mix of real-time stratgy (RTS) and turn-based strategy (TBS), PvP system, and PvE & PvP system are available for the first time on your browser with a super-light ~2 MB footprint!
Backstory: King died. Unworldly young prince succeed the throne. Dysfunctional royal court feeds the power hunger of the local military forces: Tsao Tsao, Ywan Shao and Yellow Turbans all claimed sole allegiance while waging wars against one another in the name of ridding the rebels. The darkest days of the period gave birth to spirited young lords who united the peasants to defend and fight for true peace instead of false justice(Kingory players, you’re one of them!)
Free To Play Forever!
World’s Most-Played Web Game
Join a global community of 12 millions
Instant access, no installation
Play anywhere via your browser
1st ever real-time simulation combat!
2000+ quests, 1600+ equips & items
914 Heroes (changeable armors!)
Build up to 20 cities
PvP & PvE Arena
@PoppaShongo
Empire Craft Article#1: http://www.bruceongames.com/2009/07/15/empire-craft-the-next-evony/
Empire Craft Article#2: http://www.bruceongames.com/2009/07/19/about-empire-craft/
Dear lord their like cockroaches, and their multiplying
No offense meant and I truly feel for you over this lawsuit and suspect you will come out on top. However, I for one am about a week or two from not reading your blogs anymore altogether. This has now become a bash Evony blog of which does nothing to keep me or other people informed on the industry. We have lots of exciting things going on right now and I get to tune in to read another thread about more proof you have found regarding UGME and Evony. Maybe you can change the site to BruceonEvony. Let’s get back to what made many of us want to read your blogs in the first place.
@RJones
A bit of contraversy is good for everyone, Bruces only mistake in my eyes as a fan of him and evony is that he didnt double check on his sources or obtain official quote from evony. Im aware that the Evony team took this action as a last resort and where very hesitant in this action, I also know that they have a lot of respect for Bruces views on many aspects but they do have there product to protect.
Im sure Bruce and Evony will sort this out and that everyone will learn something from it.
Bruce writes excellent articles, has been reporting on things found on the net – problem is, alot of the net is speculation and chinease (excuse the pun) whispers.
I hope that bruce will continue to produce his blog but will endeaver to have a more investigative reporting attitude and double check his sources in future.
Both Bruce and the NEW team behind Evony have a lot to offer the gaming world, it would be a shame if this incident caused there services to cease.
AC:
What kind of cookies? Where are they located? How do you remove them? Do they install when you visit their site or do you have to sign up/play the game for them to do their work?
Elvin6 wrote:
AC:
What kind of cookies? Where are they located? How do you remove them? Do they install when you visit their site or do you have to sign up/play the game for them to do their work?
—
Hello Elvin,
Two files load automatically into your machine once you sign-up to Kingory, just like they do in Civony/Evony. There is no indication that files will be loaded because the entry to the site is pre-ticked. These folders are named as “Kingory.” Some of the files within these folders were unreadable. A basic search for “Kingory” in your files should do the trick of locating them, but of course others could be concealed under a different name.
I have found that since loading Civony/Evony and more lately Kingory programmes, some browsers, even very robust browsers, have developed a habit of crashing, even when they have never done so before. In this respect the best advice I can offer is never enter any game if you believe it is not a legitimate and responsible company.
There is a need for an independent evaluation into browser games. This is why I very much appreciate the effort that is being put into developing this website, along with the publicity that is bringing people here to read it. Many gaming companies operate portal sites that effectively produce biased reviews that signpost people to their own products and attacks those that attack their products. Naturally many users remain ignorant of the type of tricks that are employed online. Thankfully people like Bruce Everiss has more experience, expertise and passion than most to address issues like these. He is quite literally quickly becoming the gamers friend.
I hope this may be of some assistance to you.
Regards,
AC
“Use all sorts of useful Items with care and judgment and soon your empire shall thrive!”
…Namely…”care and judgment”..especially if the “useful item” is a credit card ;D
This rule created considerable consternation to the panellists on a programme during the Suez war. ,
Great-updates!- Keep up the good job!—I want to sue Evony,for all they did to me!
Well…. lots of pictures and images such as avatars, city sprites, etc, are very similar (or I could even say – copy) from Romance of the Three Kingdom (I’m not sure but mostly from RTK XI). I doubt whether it is legal or not …..
If they’re going to go under a different cover, at least change the name.
the chinese have been forced not to do much thinking for a long time by thier government. so when its time for competition the main thing they do is copy and cut corners. u can’t blame them. their culture which they are so proud of makes them proud becos they dont know better. so when they make money in anyway they can think of, they think becos it is becos of their culture. very sad.
Sorry if this has been mentioned, but on your post Bruce (#7) it states;
Some Kingory claims:
600+ servers & 40 million players
I signed up to this game to give it a check, and it’s not that bad to play, but the 600+ servers? A big no. Server 3 (opened 10th November) when I joined. Where’s the other -597 server coming from?
(Unless you meant Evony?) I’m confused. I’m leaving now. I enjoy reading your posts, and good luck with the court thing.
has nobody seen NAP wars or napoleonic wars? its a game tht many evony players were invited to through email. i played it during beta because u got 1k cents a day =-). it is EXACTLY the same as kingory down to the last detail. its been out of beta a while now so its kinda boring. i liked having the best pol hero on the game lol
Here’s the address for that Feng company:
Lu Yuan Feng
ROOM 3004 NO300 KANG WONG SOUTH ST
Guangzhou, Guangdong 510140
China
You gotta search deeper than google.
You should try playing it.
You’d be surprised what the GMs will actually tell you when they think you’re just another player.
No idea if the copy Evony, but they have done other dirty stuff:
http://youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com/blog3/?p=4790
They use Udon Crew illustrations (property of Capcom) and Kung-Fu Panda in their marketing, wtf?
Just saw an ad for Kingory featuring a sexy chinese girl in a VERY mini chinese style dress. I certainly thought it was Evony under a new name…so I googled it, hoping to find your site. Just want to say that I’m very glad you set up this blog, dedicated to the truth about these horrible games!
I read this blog a while back and noted how it was mentioned that Kingory was more than jsut remarkably similar to Evony, and even noticing the rediculous amount of AD’s l’ve been seeing for it. The last straw before me posting this was seeing a half-naked girl on the Kingory ads. If there was any doubt that kingory predated Evony and didnt steal its software, it’s gone now. If they’d go so far as to take the advertising schemes too, then l’ve got no faith in kingory at all and for some reason if there was a way I’m sure I’d shun them altogether.
@Bruce,
Like Dev J. rightly pointed out, Kingory is the original. Evony kinda stole the idea and the gameplay, and falsely claimed as their own (how unoriginal~~~ BOO~~~).
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