JULY 22, 2009 • World of Warcraft fans in China have not been able to play the MMO for nearly two months. First there was the downtime as Blizzard switched China operators from The9 to NetEase. Then the Chinese government got involved since NetEase now qualified as a “new operator,” which opened the title for a new round of evaluations for objectionable  content. The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has ordered some changes in the MMO, which will be evaluated again after Blizzard and NetEase make the alterations. Until then GAPP has allowed World of Warcraft to go live for “internal testing.” Existing account holders will be allowed to play the game free of charge during this period, but no new accounts may be added.

Impact: China has become the world’s largest market for PC games, but for outside companies it remains a difficult nut to crack.  The issue of finding the right operator and dealing with government regulations is a daunting task.  World of Warcraft is one of the few Western games that has had success in China as Blizzard was able to find its way through the red tape.  However, the recent issues show that dealing with regulation and operator issues is an ongoing process in China.