"Unruly Heroes" wins the 47th Annie Awards, "The Oscars in Animation World"

PR82743

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- Perfect World's China-France teams reap the rewards with cross-cultural collaborations

On the evening of January 25, 2020, the 47th Annual Annie Awards, celebrated as

"the Oscars in Animation World" took place in Los Angeles, California, the United States (US).

Unruly Heroes, a side-scrolling game with multiple levels co-developed by China-based Perfect

World and a French studio based on adventures of Journey to the West won the 47th Annie

Awards for Best Character Animation in Video Game.

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200203/2704378-1

It is learned that Annie Awards is one of the highest honors in the field of animation globally.

Started in 1972 by ASIFA-Hollywood, a branch member of the International Animated Film

Society (ASIFA) in Los Angeles, California, the US, it takes place at the University of California,

Los Angeles (UCLA) each year to bring the best animation and game products rolled out in

the preceding year together. The event is attended by a large group of professionals from

animation and game communities worldwide and from Hollywood.

There were four finalists contending for the 47th Annie Awards for Best Character Animation

in Video Game, including the award-winner Unruly Heroes and Gears 5 by Microsoft Corporation,

Kingdom Hearts III and Sinclair Snake: Museum Mischief by the Japanese game company

Square Enix. Since the list of nominees was unveiled in early December 2019, the sector has

been filled with predictions as to who would eventually take home the award. When Unruly

Heroes was presented with the award, it is hailed as a well-deserved success.

Perfect World CEO Dr. Robert H. Xiao attended the event and said that it is a great honor

for Unruly Heroes becoming shortlisted and winning the award eventually. The success is

derived from the dedication of the development team to finding ways to promote traditional

Chinese culture globally in an innovative way. As a world-class game produced by Perfect World

which integrates global resources and takes Chinese culture as a core element, Unruly Heroes

capitalizes on international visions and technical performance to reimagine the images of

Tang Monk and his disciples in a brightly-colored magical fantasy, marking a successful

exploration of the global transmission of traditional Chinese classical IPs.

According to Lu Yang, the producer of Unruly Heroes, they chose Journey to the West for

its classical nature and high quality. The traditional IP contains a vast system of world views,

diverse cultures, and distinctive and lively characters full of dramatic conflicts, so it is a fairly

good theme for game creation and development of games. During the development process,

members from the French studio fully demonstrated immense creativity and passion and

provided countless creative and interesting ideas during development process.

Therefore, their efforts have instilled more international vibes into the novel and made it

more true to life. For this reason, players from different cultural backgrounds find it easier

to relate to traditional Chinese fairy tales and develop a fondness for them.

The cultural inclusiveness and creativity of Unruly Heroes have recorded remarkable market

performance since its launch. Notably, players have provided fairly positive feedback on its

images and animation design. At present, the game has attracted a large number of players

worldwide, 80% of whom are based overseas. Truth be told, it has kindled the interest of many

foreign players who had no idea of this traditional Chinese fairy tale in the past.

Apart from the renowned Annie Awards, everyone seemed to be raving about Unruly Heroes

immediately after it was launched at Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference. In addition, it was

nominated for Best PC Game and Best Visual Art at the Ping Awards 2018, and Most Anticipated

Game at the Unity Awards 2018. It brought home the Best Console Game at the Barcelona

Games World and Most Anticipated Online Game 2018 of Sina. It also received high ratings

across dozens of media platforms: 9/10 on GameSpace, 8.8/10 on IGN Espana and 9.7 on

TapTap. The game was also recommended by a column report on China Daily front page.

Insiders have pointed out that Unruly Heroes could win these renowned awards

from international review committees primarily due to its cultural inclusiveness

and diverse experience. It clearly spells out a fact: a product will only be able to

provide world-class quality products when it retains inherent elements of a culture

while incorporating creativity. If Chinese companies are going to successfully introduce

products with Chinese elements to the world in the future, Unruly Heroes would be

the most up-to-date example to follow, in a manner of speaking.

Perfect World has paved the way for the birth of more products like Unruly Heroes

through upholding a global strategy over a long period of time, said Dr. Robert H. Xiao.

In the coming days, Perfect World is set to roll out more high-quality popular entertainment

products featuring elements of Chinese culture for global players to facilitate the strategy of

Chinese culture going global.

SOURCE  Perfect World Co., Ltd.

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=356880

   Caption: Perfect World CEO Dr. Robert H. Xiao (second from the right) and

representatives of the team of Unruly Heroes