china posts

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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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

Martial arts and robots MMO Titan Online goes open beta this month

by James Egan Apr 15th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Betas, New titles, Free-to-play

Korean MMO developer EYA Interactive has announced that their game Titan Online will enter open beta for its international version on April 28th. Massively had a look at Titan Online at GDC 2009, a game that EYA Interactive explains as "an epic title based on traditional Asian culture... a fusion MMORPG that boasts a unique combination of martial arts and robots that takes place in a spectacular fantasy world."

Gamers interested in getting in on the open beta can sign up at the Titan Global Site. EYA Interactive has also stated they will allow players to keep their existing open beta characters once the game goes live, with no account wipes from open beta onwards.

[Via Worlds in Motion]

Gallery: GDC09: Titan Online

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Tags: asia, beta, betas, china, chinese, eya-interactive, f2p, free-to-play, gdc-2009, korea, martial-arts, open-beta, robots, titan-online

Chinese online games market saw 63% growth in 2008

by James Egan Apr 13th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry

Business is booming for online game operators in China. The market grew by 63% in 2008 according to analyst group Pearl Research. They also predict that online gaming in China will be a $5.5 billion market by 2012, as reported by Gamasutra's David Jenkins.

In a country where broadband speeds are continually improving coupled with the widespread adoption of the web, China's netizens have embraced the relatively low-cost entertainment that online gaming offers. This is good news for gaming companies, particularly in these lean economic times. Jenkins writes, "Online operators in China have apparently seen little downturn in their business during the world economic crisis, with six companies now making revenues greater than $200 million (Tencent, Changyou, The9, Netease, Shanda and Giant)." You can see the full story on China's online games growth over at Gamasutra.

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Tags: asia, changyou, china, david-jenkins, economy, gamasutra, giant, giant-interactive, mmo-industry, netease, pearl-research, shanda, tencent, the9

Better know a gold farmer

by Joe Blancato Mar 26th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, EVE Online, Economy, MMO industry, Legal

Nick Ryan at Eurogamer tracked down gold farmers from all walks of life and has profiled them in his ongoing series "Gold Trading Exposed." In this second installment of four, Ryan speaks directly with four different gold farmers, each from different parts of the process.

He first introduces "Paul," a British farmer who began farming as a side business in Ultima Online, then moved to EVE and was eventually ran out by the Chinese farming industry. Ryan then moves on to "Mr. Li," a Chinese farmer who works toward the lower rungs of a large-scale operation spanning almost 10,000 World of Warcraft accounts. Finally, Ryan speaks to "Sophia," a marketer who works for SwagVault, a gold re-seller, and her colleague "Benjamin."

Benjamin in particular offers a poignant analysis of just how much money makes its way to Blizzard: "Each time Blizzard massively bans the farming accounts and trading accounts, the gold sellers and farmers suffer great losses. They have paid for the Classic CD-Key, the Burnfing Crusade CD-Key, Wrath of the Lich King CD-key and 60 days Time Cards. The total cost is over 100 USD. ... I estimate that Blizzard itself has got millions of US dollars from the farmers."

Ryan's investigative journalism is by far the most comprehensive since Julian Dibbell actually went to China for his book Play Money, which covered gold farming in great detail.

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Tags: china, eve, eve-online, farming, rmt, ultima-online, world-of-warcraft, wow

Rumor: China's The9 may lose licensing rights to World of Warcraft

by James Egan Mar 25th 2009 at 10:00AM

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

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.

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!

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Tags: blizzard, business-models, censorship, china, fantasy, gapp, license, licensing, mmo-industry, rights, rumors, the9, world-of-warcraft, wow, wow-china, wow-insider

Blizzard downplays Wrath's issues in China

by Colin Brennan Mar 22nd 2009 at 6:00PM

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

As we've reported on earlier, Wrath of the Lich King isn't heading towards a speedy approval for Chinese audiences, leading to problems for The9 if they can't get Wrath approved by the government. However, unlike The9, Blizzard is downplaying the issues Wrath may be facing.

Blizzard has told GamesIndustry.biz that "World of Warcraft continues to operate as normal in mainland China, and we're continuing to work with our local partner, The9, toward the launch of Wrath of the Lich King there. An official announcement will be made once it's ready to go."

It seems that everything is on track for Wrath's launch in China according to the company, but only time will ultimately tell when Wrath will be able to get away from the new stringent regulations holding it back.

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Tags: blizzard, china, disapproval, gamesindustry.biz, regulations, skeletons, the9, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow, wrath-of-the-lich-king, zombies

Statistics point to China's growing significance in MMO industry

by James Egan Mar 20th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Legal

We've been mentioning a bit about some of the regulatory issues in China affecting massively multiplayer online games, particularly as they concern some Western game companies. However, a number of gamers in the West have wondered something along the lines of, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, in terms of Western markets directly, not much. But China is significant for the MMO industry seen as a whole.

China will be the world's largest MMO market moving forward and as broadband speeds and penetration increase, the numbers of online gamers will keep rising. The current regulatory changes put forth by China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) stands to have a major impact on how online games are operated in this market, ranging from implementation of a "fatigue system" (where play time is limited each day) to censorship of game content. The country has over 55.5 million online gamers, with a total market for virtual transactions between USD 1.4 billion and 1.9 billion (RMB 10-13 billion), according to 2008 statistics released by the China Internet Network Information Center (as reported in English by JLM Pacific Epoch).

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Tags: asia, censorship, china, cinic, cnnic, culture, fatigue, fatigue-system, gapp, jlm-pacific-epoch, legal, mmo-industry, regulations, regulatory, virtual-goods, virtual-transactions

China to impose more restrictions on foreign online games

by James Egan Mar 16th 2009 at 5:00PM

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

We've mentioned some of the issues that China's licensed World of Warcraft operator The9 faces with bringing Wrath of the Lich King to market, and what this latest round of regulation could mean for the the operator. The government's newfound concern with controlling exactly what content exists in online games played in China may have an impact that goes far beyond World of Warcraft. Other foreign MMOs are presently operating in China, while others have their eyes on this growing market.

JLM Pacific Epoch cites (the Chinese-language news portal) Sohu, which reports that the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) will "tighten approval criteria for online game imports in an effort to protect the development of online game enterprises and avoid the excessive penetration of foreign culture among Chinese youth."

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Tags: asia, business-models, censorship, china, culture, gapp, jlm-pacific-epoch, legal, mmo-industry, operator, operators, protectionism, regulations, sohu, the9, wow-china

Chinese online game market operating in loss

by Colin Brennan Mar 13th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Academic

When many of us think about MMOs, we think about companies who rake more money than we could dream about. Enough money to put together a scale model of Paris made out of 20 dollar bills.

Yet the truth is that many of these companies are operating in loss, as a recent article published in the Beijing Times has shown. Over 70% of Chinese online game companies are spending more than they are earning, while only a few notable names, like The9, the operators of World of Warcraft in China, stand to even make a profit.

Many games spend more in development and marketing costs than they stand to make in monthly subscriptions, leading to these problems occurring in many companies in the market. Analysts say that for every 10 online games made, only one stands to be a profitable venture.

For the full report on this, check out the article over at TradingMarkets.com.

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Tags: beijing, beijing-times, china, development, development-costs, economy, game-companies, loss, market, money, online-games, profit, the9, world-of-warcraft

China's The9 faces bankruptcy if Wrath expansion not approved by government

by James Egan Mar 13th 2009 at 5:00PM

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

We reported the other day on the issues that The9 is having with getting the Wrath of the Lich King expansion released in China. The government is unwilling to approve the World of Warcraft expansion, citing 'health' and decency concerns about the game's content. The9 is the licensed operator of World of Warcraft in China, and the company paid a significant amount in licensing fees to Blizzard Entertainment in April of 2008 to secure the rights to operate Wrath, according to Shanghai-based JLM Pacific Epoch.

Although the Chinese regulatory body, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), is chiefly concerned with removing "unhealthy" content from the game, their stance could prove disastrous for The9. If GAPP doesn't green light the Wrath of the Lich King expansion in China, The9 will not be able to recoup their losses and may face bankruptcy.

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!

Source

Tags: asia, business-models, censorship, china, expansions, fantasy, gapp, jlm-pacific-epoch, licensed-operator, mmo-industry, operator, regulation, regulatory-body, shanghai, the9, world-of-warcraft, wotlk, wow, wrath, wrath-of-the-lich-king

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