WOW on shaky ground in China

By Oli Welsh Published 3 November, 2009

Ordered to stop taking money and accounts.

World of Warcraft's rough ride in the crucial Chinese market continues, with reports that the country's General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) has returned new operator NetEase's application to run the game and ordered it to stop taking money and account registrations.

According to the China Press and Publishing Journal (quoted by JLM Pacific Epoch, via WoW.com), GAPP said that it had only permitted NetEase to begin closed beta testing, and its decision to start charging for the game and taking new players in September was "illegal behaviour".

However, Mobinode suggests that the Chinese government itself doesn't agree with the regulator. It reports that an official from the Ministry of Culture said that GAPP's attempt to suspend WOW was "not appropriate".

Earlier this year, WOW spent two months offline in China as Blizzard switched the game's local provider from The9 to NetEase. The hiatus was officially said to be down to technical difficulties, but it took place in an atmosphere of hostility to foreign involvement in the country's huge gaming market.

One year on from its release, second expansion Wrath of the Lich King has yet to see the light of day in China due to concerns over its content. Both the original game and first expansion The Burning Crusade saw substantial delays and alterations before they could launch in the country.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (10) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Kerome #1 2 years ago

    Smells of mmo company politics and offcials in search of a large slab of bakshish...

  • sebsal #2 2 years ago

    How have the "Chinese" gold farmers been in the game since the beginning if they've only had on-off access for a year?

  • Pirotic #3 2 years ago

    Pft, that's democracy for you.

    .. no wait..

  • actionfitz #4 2 years ago

    "an atmosphere of hostility to foreign involvement in the country's huge gaming market. "

    /sigh.
    I'd say fuck em and just not release my game in China, screw bending over for a totalitarian regime.
    But then I dont run a million dollar games company, and that's probably for the best.
    --
    edited fior typos.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/09 @ 09:43

  • HermitArcader #5 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Benno #6 2 years ago

    'How have the "Chinese" gold farmers been in the game since the beginning if they've only had on-off access for a year? '

    Because they dont have chinese accounts. They have US and EU accounts, hence they can sell stuff to us.

  • SAMagic #7 2 years ago

    Please be aware that the Chinese government isn't united in this - Gamepolitics recently reported that GAPP and the Ministry of Culture are clashing in disagreement over WOW. Hopefully we'll see moderates prevail over the isolationist mindset of certain Chinese government organisations. They can't have their cake and eat it when it comes to the global market.

  • darkmorgado #8 2 years ago

    Hang on, the government of a major country is having internal arguments over World of Warcraft?????

    My god, does the madness never end?

  • Kerome #9 2 years ago

    You don't seem to understand the impact of mmo's on China's student population... mmo addiction is rife over there, which is why things like health warnings over time played are compulsory, and the whole field is legislated. It's not just WoW, it's all mmo's which are on the government radar over there.

    But WoW's case is particularly interesting, because it's taking money out of China. It's one of the most succesful mmo's over there, and people are actually having to pay for access to a foreign software product, shock horror!

  • SAMagic #10 2 years ago

    @darkmorgado: It's more like a clash between two departments than an enormous schism, apparently based on so-called cultural protectionism against global free market trade, but more likely about power.

    Edit: Haha who's voting my comment down? I haven't even stated a remotely strong opinion, just some thoughts!
    Gamepolitics has some coverage of the issue: [link url=http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/11/03/gap p-snaps-shuts-down-wow-china
    ]http://ww w.gamepolitics.com/2009/11/03/g...[/link]
    Looks like the whole thing is going to get worse before it gets better.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/09 @ 16:42