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Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of WarcraftFiled under:
World of Warcraft,
Fantasy,
Business models,
MMO industry,
Rumors![(!empty($user->lang['IMAGE'])) ? $user->lang['IMAGE'] : ucwords(strtolower(str_replace('_', ' ', 'IMAGE')))](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.massively.com/media/2009/03/worldofwarcraftchina.jpg)
The9 is the licensed operator for
World of Warcraft in China, the most popular Western MMO running in Asia. However, The9 is facing
new censorship and regulatory issues which have thus far prevented the
Wrath of the Lich King expansion from launching in China. These restrictions imposed upon online games operating in mainland China by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) are not the only issue affecting
World of Warcraft's success in the country.
To make things worse, it's now rumored that their licensing deal with
Blizzard may be shaky. Our sister site
WoW Insider has mentioned (unverified) reports that
The9 might be on the outs with Blizzard, citing a Xinhua news agency story. The9 declined to make a comment to WoW Insider, stating only that they're still in negotiations with
Blizzard Entertainment. With their current licensing agreement due to expire this summer, we suspect it won't be long before the situation is resolved, one way or the other.
![(!empty($user->lang['IMAGE'])) ? $user->lang['IMAGE'] : ucwords(strtolower(str_replace('_', ' ', 'IMAGE')))](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.massively.com/media/2008/08/lichkingswipeimage.jpg)
One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of Warcraft originally appeared on
Massively on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our
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CommentsAuthor: James Egan
Category: blizzardbusiness-modelscensorshipchinafantasygapplicenselicensingmmo-industryrightsrumorsthe9world-of-warcraftwowwow-chinawow-insider
Publish Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:00:00 EST
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Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of W : World of Warcraft General Discussions
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