Breaking: Chinese government rejects World of Warcraft, again
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.
Analysts aren't surprised that the game has been targeted by the GAPP, as the branch of the government was displeased over World of Warcraft going back online thanks to the approval from the Ministry of Culture. Essentially, the game is locked in a battle between the two wings of the government as the GAPP works to tighten its control over content in online games.
The lockdown of service has affected NetEase and Activision in the stock market, pushing them down 2.4% and 4.3% of their stock values respectively.
Update: Added links to the GAPP's statement, NetEase's official response, and corrected wording in the first sentence to show World of Warcraft China is still running.
