DC Universe Online about to get much larger, heading to eight Asian countries

With the game headed to a number of new countries, DC's own MMO, DC Universe Online is about to get a major influx of players. Sony Online Entertainment announced a new partnership with AsiaSoft to bring the game to eight countries in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Phillipines.

Given the combined population of the countries is over half a billion, there's the potential for the amount of players to shoot into the hundreds of millons, easy, especially since the game adopted the free-to-play model in 2011, which will be offered to all players in the Asian territories. I wonder how many will want to play as Captain Boomerang...

Don't worry about your local server getting clogged though, the partnership gives AsiaSoft dedicated servers for the "local" customers, as well as exclusive PC publishing rights in said locations. The game hits those eight countries later this year.

"Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and the entire roster of DC Entertainment heroes and villains are among the most recognizable icons in the world. By bringing  DC Universe Online to southeast Asia, more people than ever will be able to gear-up and fight alongside their favorite characters," said Louis Figueroa, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Sony Online Entertainment. "AsiaSoft will provide high quality player support ensuring the DCUO community continues to thrive throughout Asia and beyond."

DC Universe Online has been going strong for two years now, offering close to 200 characters from the DC universe, where players can design their own completely unique character. Otherwise, the game would be crawling with God only knows how many Batmans. How'd everyone get so powerful? Thank DC's balding baddie Lex Luthor. A future version of the megalomaniac traveled back through time to set off a device granting everyone their choice of powers, all so they'd be prepared to fight Brainiac when he arrives in the future. DC notables like Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and others (the list goes on and on) act as mentors, teaching players how to use and control their various powers.

The game counted nearly 11 million total players in May.