HONG KONG, Nov. 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of the Government's recent Policy Address promoting Hong Kong as an international hub for post-secondary education, and to build the "Study in Hong Kong" brand, Lingnan University gave its annual International Day on 29 October a "Cultural Fusion, Global Vision" theme. The event attracted about 500 faculty members and students for a lively celebration of diversity and cultural exchange.
Dynamic performances included K-pop dancing, Pakistani music, and traditional Kazakh instrumentals. Booths from 11 countries and regions, including those involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Mainland China, Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Mexico, provided everyone with an immersive cultural experience. Each booth offered local foods, crafts, and games, creating an interactive and colourful multicultural adventure on campus.
In his speech, Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, highlighted Lingnan's progress, saying "I am pleased to share with you some encouraging achievements in our internationalisation efforts. This semester, we have welcomed over 180 exchange students from more than 20 countries, including Mainland China, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Additionally, we have many international students pursuing their degrees here. This diversity enriches our campus, providing invaluable opportunities for students to interact with peers from various backgrounds and to learn about different cultures."
President Qin said that Lingnan has also established a network of over 270 international exchange partners in more than 50 countries and regions, and this semester 90 Lingnan students have gone on exchanges to 17 countries, including Mainland China, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. He added that another 92 students will participate in exchange programs next semester: "We believe this will enhance collaboration with counterparts around the world in promoting the 'Study in Hong Kong' brand on a global scale, and attracting global talent to pursue their dreams in Hong Kong, which will, in turn, inject new impetus into Hong Kong's social and economic growth."
President Qin also expressed his delight in seeing the purposeful strides made welcoming international students to study at Lingnan and facilitating opportunities for Lingnan students to study abroad. With students' whole-person development and well-being as top priorities, he is confident that the University is on the right path to presenting them with opportunities to grow and excel in an increasingly interconnected world.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
500 students and faculty celebrate Lingnan's International Day, Supporting the Government's 'Study in Hong Kong' brand initiative
Smilegate's deep expertise in Asian markets coupled with Dan Houser and the Absurd Ventures team's creative vision and blockbuster AAA game experience aims to create vast and sustainable global business opportunities
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Smilegate today announced that it has made a strategic investment and become a partner in Absurd Ventures, a U.S.-based media and entertainment company founded by Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser. Absurd Ventures was launched by Houser, whose creative direction during his over twenty years at Rockstar Games drove the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, among others, to collectively sell more than 550 million units worldwide. Through this agreement, Smilegate will have the opportunity to partner on Absurd Ventures' new IP.
Houser creatively oversaw globally successful IPs that are cultural cornerstones and rooted in immersive storytelling. As the creative director and lead writer of Rockstar's biggest games, Houser conceived indelibly rich worldbuilding, captivating and sometimes heart-breaking stories, and created iconic characters like Tommy Vercetti, Arthur Morgan, Trevor Phillips and John Marston to name just a few. Houser's team at Absurd Ventures includes key leaders and talent from his time at Rockstar Games as well as executive game development veterans who worked on Call of Duty, Pokemon Go! and many other AAA franchises. Absurd Ventures is currently at work building a bold new vision with diverse new IP universes across a wide array of mediums, including video games as well as live-action and animated TV and film, audio fiction podcasts, books, comic books and more. While Absurd Ventures' video game projects are in early stages of development, they have in 2024 released a hit audio fiction series set in their science-fiction universe, A BETTER PARADISE, which debuted at #1 on Apple's Fiction charts, and will be introducing their AMERICAN CAPER crime-fiction universe as an original comic book series in 2025. A third IP universe from Absurd Ventures will also be revealed soon.
Smilegate is the creator of the blockbuster franchises "CROSSFIRE", "Lost Ark", and "Epic Seven", that are hugely beloved in the global market. "CROSSFIRE", launched in 2007, is a first-person shooting game and is currently played in more than 80 countries worldwide by approximately 1 billion gamers. Smilegate's flagship MMORPG "Lost Ark", is played in 160 countries by 1..32M concurrent users. Smilegate is steadily solidifying its position as a 'Global IP powerhouse'.
Smilegate and Absurd Ventures will each leverage the strength of the other into new and sustainable business opportunities. Smilegate will benefit from Houser and his team's proven narrative, AAA game and business expertise in the Western market, while Absurd will benefit from Smilegate's expertise in the Asian market. The two companies will pool each other's strengths in areas such as online/live service, given Smilegate's success with CROSSFIRE and Houser and his team's experience overseeing the wildly successful Grand Theft Auto Online.
Dan Houser, Founder of Absurd Ventures, said, "This collaboration with Smilegate was borne from a mutual respect and a philosophical alignment with founder Kwon, and the great passion he and his team bring to making AAA games. We both want to build interesting worlds and new player experiences."
Joonho Sung, CEO of Smilegate, said, "We are thrilled to collaborate with the developers behind globally renowned series that have millions of fans worldwide. Together with Absurd Ventures, Smilegate aims to deliver games that players across the globe will love. This partnership marks a critical milestone in Smilegate's journey toward becoming a global IP powerhouse."
Smilegate was advised by DLA Piper and Absurd Ventures was advised by Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks, P.C. with respect to the transaction.
About Smilegate: Smilegate is a global game development and publishing company headquartered in South Korea with regional offices in the United States, China, and Japan. Its flagship franchise 'CROSSFIRE,' is one of the largest and most successful franchises in gaming history. It has more than 1 billion registered users to date in PC and mobile platforms and over 8 million concurrent players globally. Its latest project, 'Lost Ark,' is an MMORPG that was released in South Korea in 2018 and was launched in North America and Europe in February, 2021. Lost Ark recorded concurrent players on Steam with over 1.32M. Learn more by visiting Smilegate.com
About Absurd Ventures: Absurd Ventures is an entertainment company creating new IP across all mediums. Absurd Ventures' original properties include the sci-fi thriller universe "A Better Paradise" and the crime fiction universe "American Caper," whose characters, stories and lore are currently being produced and developed for video games, live-action and animated TV and film, fiction podcasts, books, comic books and more. The company has already launched a chart-topping audio fiction series set in the "A Better Paradise" universe and will be debuting an American Caper comics series in 2025. Founded by Dan Houser, Absurd Ventures is headquartered in Santa Monica, with additional studio offices in Marin, CA. 
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Smilegate Makes Strategic Investment in Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures, Accelerating Its Growth in the Global Gaming Market
