Trion Worlds has announced that it has inked a partnership deal with Shanda Games to publish Rift. No release date was revealed but the announcement takes Rift one step closer to a blockbuster release in mainland China sometime in 2012.

Buttler declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal, but he said that it is one of the “biggest licensing deals ever in China.” He said the partnership is a broad one that will allow Shanda to launch an exclusive version of Rift that is localized in Chinese. He said that Trion will learn a lot from the deal, and was proud to show that online gaming isn’t just about Asian games moving into the U.S. market. He believes the appeal of games such as Rift, which has a dynamic environment and ever-changing storyline, is universal.

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