china posts

Breaking: Chinese government rejects World of Warcraft, again

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 2nd 2009 at 6:15PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, News items

In a crackdown against online gaming, China has put World of Warcraft under review again today, asking Chinese operator NetEase to stop collecting fees and suspend new account registration as the game is in violation of regulation agreements.

A regulator from the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) said today in an online statement that the game was in "gross violation" of Chinese regulations and they have returned the company's application to operate "The Burning Crusade" (Yep, that's right, they said The Burning Crusade and not Wrath of the Lich King) in China. NetEase has responded that they have not received official word from the governing body of their intent. As of this posting, Battle.net China is still accepting registrations for World of Warcraft.

Tags: activision, activision-blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, breaking, china, gapp, general-administration-of-press-and-publication, netease, news-items, regulations, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-china

Chinese company bans gender-bending

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 27th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Legal

You can frequently get asked to prove an awful lot in MMOs -- that you actually know how to beat this boss, that you really have insider access to the game developers, or perhaps most commonly that you are who you say you are. Aurora Technology over in China has apparently decided to cut out the middleman in the equation -- they're banning any male players who play female characters, requiring players to confirm their gender via webcam in order to enforce the ruling.

The ruling currently only affects the Aurora-developed game King of the World, but there's always the possibility that this action could have further-reaching consequences. After all, Aurora is a subsidiary of Shanda, a company responsible for publishing Aion and Dungeons and Dragons Online in the region, which are names slightly more familiar to players on this side of the pond. China is a fair bit more litigious than the US when it comes to its online games, and the country as a whole has taken some surprising moves already. While this ordeal has been going on for over two years now, we can't help but wonder if this will herald the start of some rather restrictive policies. We're assuming that you'll need to provide pictures or it didn't happen.

Tags: aion, aurora-technology, china, china-gaming, chinese-gaming, culture, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons-online, gender, legal, mmo-industry, shanda

Online gaming revenues soar in China

by James Egan Oct 15th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, Legal

Online gaming revenues soared in China to 6.18 billion RMB (USD 906 million) in the second quarter of 2009, according to Reuters. They cite data from Analysys International, a research firm which states China's online game revenues for Q2 2009 were up 39.5 percent over last year. Among the top three earners (trailing behind Tencent Holdings and Shanda Games) was NetEase, the company which is presently the licensed operator of World of Warcraft in China. Reuters states that NetEase saw revenues of 780 million RMB (USD 114 million) in the second quarter of this year.

This continual growth of online gaming in China has been a key issue with legislators in recent years. The Chinese media's coverage of internet and gaming addiction has intensified, and there is now increased government scrutiny of the virtual currencies and economies these games have given rise to. It's not just a China issue, as foreign companies are either operating online games in the country or have been eyeing this lucrative market. As we mentioned on Monday, the issue of regulating foreign game operation in China may be coming to a head with the current struggle between the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) and the Ministry of Culture. Whatever agreement is reached between these government agencies will determine the future of foreign online game operations in the country.

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: china, gamepolitics, gapp, government, legal, legislation, mmo-industry, politics, reuters, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-china

PAX 2009: We travel east with Rise of the Godslayer

by Kyle Horner Sep 9th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Expansions, Massively Event Coverage

Age of Conan came to PAX pretty much directly off their announcement of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. So when we arrived at our appointment to check the game out and speak with Executive Producer Craig Morrison, you can imagine our curiosity levels were quite high.

This expansion is taking players far into the eastern lands of Khitai, which is essentially a retelling of our own ancient eastern worlds. Something we were told right away is that Funcom wanted to avoid Japanese influences, as they're fairly over-saturated in videogames. Instead, they're going for a heavy focus on Korean and Chinese culture for the lands of Khitai.

Gallery: Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, china, conan, craig-morrison, expansion, featured, funcom, khitai, korea, pax, pax-2009, rise-of-the-godslayer, robert-e-howard, rotg

CCP staff offered the option of being paid foreign currency during economic crisis

by Seraphina Brennan Aug 10th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items

During our troubled economic times, one sometimes forgets that currency is in a constant state of fluctuation. When times get really harsh, the value of the currency can wildly go back and forth between numbers, creating a sense of unease as people don't know what their currency is worth.

CCP Games, however, took up a new approach to paying their employees when the Icelandic Krona was volatile earlier this year -- paying their employees in foreign currency.

Employees were offered the option to accept paychecks in foreign currency, if they so wished, to provide employees with a stable income from a stable currency rather than receiving checks with the Krona. The move was easy on CCP's part, as the company is located in China, Iceland, and the United States and makes most of their revenue in foreign currency anyway.

Tags: ccp, ccp-games, china, currency, economic-crisis, economy, eve, eve-online, iceland, payment, united-states, white-wolf

World of Warcraft allowed a "partial relaunch" in China

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 22nd 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Culture, Launches, MMO industry, News items

While World of Warcraft China remains in turmoil, the government has loosened their grip on the game slightly, allowing former account holders to jump back into Azeroth once more.

The Chinese government has given NetEase, the new operator of World of Warcraft, the ok to re-open the servers on July 30th. This relaunch is being labeled as a "testing phase," however, as no new accounts will be allowed until the government completes their review of the game. NetEase is also barred from changing the cost of the subscriptions during this phase to ensure a smooth transition from the former operator, The9.

Tags: 163.com, breaking, china, gapp, government, netease, relaunch, review, testing, the9, warcraft-china, world-of-warcraft, wow-china, wrath-of-the-lich-king

EA and NetDragon to make a new Ultima Online for China

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 22nd 2009 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Ultima Online

Good news everybody! EA and Chinese developer NetDragon are putting together a brand new Ultima Online! Bad news... we'll probably never see it.

This new Ultima Online sounds like more than a simple translation from the sound of the press release, as NetDragon will be collaborating with Mythic Entertainment on the new project. In addition, NetDragon will have the exclusive operating rights for the game in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and India.

However the new game sounds like it's being made for Asian audiences only -- not a brand new Ultima Online that will see a world wide release.

UO fans can still rejoice as they will be getting a brand new boxed expansion, the Stygian Abyss, thanks to the efforts of Mythic Entertainment. However, it looks like this brand new game is staying overseas for now.

Tags: china, ea, electronic-arts, mythic, mythic-entertainment, netdragon, new-title, ultima-online, uo, uo-china

China investigating potential World of Warcraft upset, may ban game

by Kyle Horner Jul 14th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, News items

Blizzard and World of Warcraft have been having some trouble as of late in China, but this piece of news seems much more foreboding that anything that came before it. Apparently, an anonymous insider says China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has assigned Shanghai's News and Press Bureau to investigate a joint venture established by NetEase and Blizzard. Not too long ago, NetEase became the new benefactor of licensing rights for World of Warcraft, but GAPP thinks the deal aims to break Chinese law.

China is very clear when it comes to foreign companies operating online games domestically through a joint venture or sole investment -- they do not tolerate it. Without argument, GAPP approval is required for any foreign online games. If they find that the NetEase and Blizzard deal aimed to operate as a joint venture, thus allowing Blizzard more control of their MMO in China, things could become bad for the two companies.

Without GAPP approval, World of Warcraft cannot be displayed publicly, traded or promoted. If a company were to attempt such a thing without approval, GAPP has said they will shoulder legal responsiblities. Assuming that were to happen, it could become very difficult for Blizzard to find a Chinese distributor for World of Warcraft. Considering the massive amounts of players who live in China, 11 million subscribers could be easily halved in the worst case scenario.

[Thanks, ScytheNoire!]

Tags: activision-blizzard, ban, blizzard, breaking, china, chinese, netease, rights, the9, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Daily Grind: What do you think of the WoW downtime in China

by Lesley Smith Jul 8th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, The Daily Grind

For the citizens of China, Azeroth is silent. During the transition from The9 to NetEase, the servers have been taken offline leaving millions of people with nothing to do. There are other MMOs, plenty in fact. Some from the west and loads with that distinctly eastern vibe. Yet I'm sure WoW has the vast majority of the Chinese MMO player base suffering major withdrawal and pining for Azeroth. Of course, many will have transferred to Taiwanese servers where Wrath is already live, up to date and there is no downtime but the vast majority will be left waiting.

The most contact we have with Chinese players is usually through whispers asking if you want to buy gold, gnome corpses in Ironforge linking to websites, phishing scams and bots. I admit, I've noticed a marked decrease on my own server and the corpses have moved to Stormwind instead. Gold farmers aren't exactly the most positive form of contact and most Chinese players seem to be branded gold farmers regardless (guilty until proven innocent) and treated with disdain. So readers, how have you found the last couple of weeks in Azeroth? What do you think of the forced downtime? How do you think this will effect Chinese players (and I mean players, not farmers or bots)? Do you play on a Chinese realm? Have you migrated and rerolled or are you playing the waiting game?

Tags: bots, china, downtime, gold-farmers, netease, the-daily-grind, the9, world-of-warcraft, wrath-of-the-lich-king

New legislation in China outlaws gold farming

by James Egan Jun 29th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, Legal

Gold farmers. We know you hate them... We know. And we've mentioned the associated gold spam as being the bane of many MMO players' existence a number of times in the past. But is the situation ever going to change?

Perhaps, given the new legislation coming out of China this week. Of course while all gold farmers certainly aren't based in China, a substantial percentage of gold farming operations are in fact run from the country. Such operations may now find themselves under greater scrutiny by the Chinese authorities; the government has now established its first official rule on the use of virtual currency in China.

Essentially, it states that virtual currency cannot leave the sphere of influence of its issuer. (Exact wording: "The virtual currency, which is converted into real money at a certain exchange rate, will only be allowed to trade in virtual goods and services provided by its issuer, not real goods and services.") If the law is actually obeyed and enforced, it would curb all manner of black market activities in China connected with the virtual.

Tags: asia, black-market, breaking, china, economy, gold, gold-farmer, gold-farming, law, legal, ministry-of-commerce, ministry-of-culture, mmo-industry, rules, virtual-currency, virtual-goods

CCP Games CEO to announce new project in GDC Europe keynote

by James Egan Jun 11th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items

Hilmar Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, will keynote Game Developers Conference Europe 2009 in Cologne, Germany. The event runs from August 17 through the 19th at the Cologne Congress Center East. Hilmar's keynote will focus on how CCP Games rose from being a small Reykjavik-based studio with an obscure niche title to becoming a success story in the MMO industry with the growing popularity of EVE Online, now running studios in Atlanta and Shanghai, as well as their hometown of Reykjavik.

Perhaps the biggest news here is the reveal hinted at in the CCP Games press release: "As a testament to the industry's potential for growth despite widespread economic turmoil and as an inspiration for up-and-coming independent studios, Pétursson will give an exclusive first look at the company's latest project, which is currently in pre-production." We can only assume this is the World of Darkness MMO, but it could very well be a closer look at Walking in Stations or any of the other projects CCP announced at last year's Fanfest. Regardless of what this new project is, we won't know for sure until August.

Tags: atlanta, ccp-games, china, eve, eve-online, fps, game-developers-conference-europe, gdc, gdc-europe, gdc-europe-2009, hilmar-petursson, hilmar-v-petursson, iceland, keynote, mmo-industry, reykjavik, shanghai, walking-in-stations, world-of-darkness

The9 sues Blizzard in WoW China operation fallout

by James Egan Jun 2nd 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Legal

Foreign game companies operating in China face a business, regulatory, and legal climate that can be confusing or even turbulent at times. These are the chances a game company takes when trying to succeed in the China market; there are risks, certainly, but there's also a great deal of profit potential. Blizzard Entertainment partnered with games operator The9 to bring World of Warcraft to millions of gamers in China in an arrangement that's worked for four years. Things must have soured in this last year of operation, however, as Blizzard has dropped The9 and partnered with NetEase to operate World of Warcraft in China as of this month.

Clearly, this does not sit well with The9. The latest report we've seen on the fallout from the Blizzard/The9 split shows it's getting ugly. The9 is taking action against Blizzard in the Chinese legal system, with lawsuits over software copyright infringement, assets damage, and commercial defamation. All three suits are being heard in Shanghai courts.

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!

Tags: asia, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, china, lawsuits, legal, mmo-industry, netease, shanghai, the9, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-china

World of Warcraft in China to go offline for weeks in operator handover

by James Egan Jun 1st 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items

World of Warcraft is perhaps the only Western MMO to enjoy tremendous success thus far in China, the world's fastest growing market for online games. It's been a difficult road to the top though, if recent news reports are any indication. In addition to government regulations preventing Wrath of the Lich King from releasing for the Mainland, we've reported that The9 has lost the rights to operate World of Warcraft in China to competitor NetEase. Now we learn that the transition of operations from The9 to NetEase will mean World of Warcraft goes dark in China for a matter of weeks.

JLM Pacific Epoch in Shanghai has been following the story and reports that The9 will cease mainland operation of WoW at midnight on June 7th, after four years of continual service. World of Warcraft will return to China in "late June" under the banner of NetEase. It's expected that character data will be preserved with the handover.

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!

Tags: blizzard, business-models, china, fantasy, mmo-industry, netease, publishers, the9, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-china

Hello Kitty Online paints Beijing in pink and white as game's newest city

by James Egan May 30th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: News items, Hello Kitty Online, Kids

The team at SanrioDigital and Typhoon Games has lovingly re-created the city of Beijing as you've never seen it before -- through the pink-lensed glasses of Hello Kitty, heavy on the star motif. Well, more stars than the real Beijing, in any case. They've even put some of Beijing's landmarks into Hello Kitty Online and have posted screenshots of the HKO version of the city, with a brief introduction.

They write on the Sanriotown blog: "To start things off, we'd like to showcase the new, never-before-seen city that's been added to the game: Beijing! In it you'll see some narrow streets, red lanterns, unique buildings, and walls surrounding the heart of the city." Some of the places they've included are the Bubble Dome and the Forbidden Museum. Sanriotown also adds that Hello Kitty Online will have '14 new adventure maps, 8 of which make up Beijing's surroundings.' You can check out the screenshots in the Sanriotown blog announcement.

Tags: beijing, china, hello-kitty-online, hko, kids, sanrio-digital, sanriodigital, sanriotown, typhoon-games

The9 reportedly loses WoW license in China to NetEase

by Lesley Smith Apr 15th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, News items

This has been on the horizon for some time but JLM Pacific Epoch are reporting that The9, the publisher of World of Warcraft in China have lost their license to publish the game to rival NetEase.

According to the report, an internal letter was sent out to employees of The9 from company president Xiaowei Chen on earlier today suggesting that the license had been lost and that Blizzard have requested the servers, data and employees relating to the game be transfered to another local publisher. There have been some concerns about the company's financial state given the fact that Chinese players are still playing The Burning Crusade six months after the EU/US launch of Wrath of the Lich King. There have also been reports of issues relating to Wrath's content, leading many to believe the game has been banned, even though this is not the case. The9's license was due to expire on June 8th.

The report also says that, according to an unnamed source, NetEase will formally announce the license later today.

Tags: asia, breaking, breakingnews, censorship, china, death-knight, expansions, world-of-warcraft