Red 5 Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“Red 5 Singapore”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The9 Limited (NASDAQ: NCTY) (“The9”), today announced that its highly anticipated team-based shooter game, Firefall, is licensed to Garena Online Private Limited (“Garena”) for distribution across Southeast Asia and Taiwan. The agreement is for a term of six years, during which Garena will pay Red 5 Singapore US$23 million, plus royalties, for the exclusive right to distribute Firefall to game players in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines, and is an important step in the global rollout of Firefall. This collaboration between The9, Red 5 Singapore and Garena is expected to deliver enhanced outreach of Firefall in these markets, as well as an unrivaled gaming experience.

Mr. Zhu Jun, CEO of Red 5 Singapore, and CEO and Chairman of The9 said, “This agreement is not merely a good start, we view it as an exciting leap forward. Together with Garena, we will deliver Firefall into the hands of eager Asian gamers. When we entered Singapore, we made a commitment to deliver an incredible gaming experience to customers across Asia, and this partnership brings us closer to fulfilling that promise. This license marks a great milestone for The9, Red 5 Singapore and Garena. Now we will turn our attention to China, Korea and Japan.”

Mr. Mark Kern, CEO of Red 5 Studios, Inc., the developer of Firefall, said, “It’s great to see everything progressing across all territories. Red 5 Studios just finished off the year with a fantastic show at G*Star in Korea and we’ve once again been thrilled by everyone’s response to Firefall. There are a lot of fans anticipating Firefall’s launch and the license to Garena makes it possible for us to deliver.”

Mr. Forrest Li, CEO of Garena said, “Our mission is to bring world- wide reputable AAA quality games to millions of gamers of Garena community — the largest gamer community in the region. We believe Firefall is such a game that will redefine the online game experience. We are very excited for this partnership and we will be working closely with The9 and Red5 to provide Garena users with the best possible gaming environment for Firefall.”

The deal establishes an impressive precedent for licensing AAA games in Southeast Asia at US$23 million including licensing fees and minimum guarantees.