CDC Games has announced the launch of the Skull Island Expansion for Lunia, which will increase the game's content by 10 percent.

BEIJING, ATLANTA, April 23, 2008-- CDC Games, a business unit of CDC Corporation and pioneer of the “free-to-play, pay for merchandise” model for online video games in China, announced today that CDC Games USA, its North American business unit, has launched its Skull Island Expansion for Lunia, and has reported rising metrics for this recently launched free-to-play pay-for-merchandise massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG).

With the Skull Island Expansion, CDC Games has added more than 10 percent to its Lunia game content. Lunia is an action arcade MMORPG based on the widely popular manga-style of Japanese comics. For experienced players, the new Expansion offers high level character hours of adventure in the land of Pirate King Roger. The Expansion is free to play except for the final stage which requires an in-game micro-transaction purchase.

The Skull Island Expansion enables all the players of Lunia to fish in various bodies of water, and adds several new non-player characters that offer quests centered around this new fishing ability. Players can now purchase a selection of fishing poles and various baits to enhance their chances of success, earn rewards, and chat with other players about their fishing achievements. Additionally, in a play on the popularity of collectible card games, the game now offers players the ability to purchase a “Wonder Box”. The Wonder Box is a special item that, when purchased, gives players a random chance to win various collectable virtual items, of which some are rarer than others.

Since its launch February 22, 2008, Lunia has grown steadily in popularity. As of April 21, 2008, there were more than 65,000 actual players of Lunia which is a 55 percent increase compared to 42,000 players at the end of March 2008. During the first 21 days in April 2008, compared to March 2008, average concurrent users (ACU) increased by 35 percent, peak concurrent users (PCU) increased by 21 percent, and average daily revenue increased by 75 percent.

“The Skull Island Expansion is the first of a series of expansions that we intend to launch in the coming months,” said Ron Williams, General Manager of CDC Games USA. “The Expansion offers new and fun-filled content, along with exciting new virtual items, that we believe will provide many hours of entertainment for gamers.”

Read more here.