World of Warcraft gets a new Chinese partner

By Brendan Sinclair, GameSpotPosted Apr 16, 2009 10:44 am PT

NetEase to run massively popular game in mainland China, former operator The9 sees stock slide 30 percent on loss of license.

World of Warcraft is big business in markets all over the world, but there's no market bigger than China. That's why Activision Blizzard's announcement of a new licensing deal for a company to operate the massively multiplayer online role-playing game in mainland China is being felt far beyond that country's borders.

The World of Warcraft license has flown the coop.

The9 Limited has held the license to operate World of Warcraft in China for the last five years, but that run is coming to an end. Activision Blizzard today announced that it will give that right over to an affiliate of another China-based MMOG operator, NetEase, for three years to commence at the expiration of the current deal with The9.

The switch in license holder should not come as a complete surprise. After all, chief Activision Blizzard rival and publisher of the Warhammer Online MMOG Electronic Arts owns a 15 percent stake in The9. In addition to EA-related games like FIFA Online 2 and Hellgate: London, The9 serves as the Chinese partner for titles like Huxley, Ragnarok Online 2, and Field of Honor.

NetEase is no slouch in the online game world, either. The company already had the license to oversee Activision Blizzard's Warcraft III and Starcraft II in China, in addition to a stable of other games, including Westward Journey Online II and III, Fantasy Westward Journey, and TianXia 2.

Rumors of the licensor switch first surfaced after the close of trading Tuesday, when shares of The9 sold for $13.22 on the NASDAQ Global Select market. Since then the stock has shed nearly 30 percent of its value, trading at $9.26 as of press time. NetEase stock was less impacted by the news, trading up a little less than 3 percent to $30.59. Activision Blizzard stock was also up less than 3 percent to $10.31, although that gain is partially attributable to the publisher's announcement that it would beat previously announced projections for its recently completed quarter.

Activision Blizzard is promising a smooth transition between the two partners, though it's unclear when the handover will actually take place. Similarly unclear is what effect this move will have--if any--on Activision Blizzard's attempts to curb gold farming in World of Warcraft. In China and other Asian countries, a number of companies exist that run gold-farming sweatshops to amass virtual currency in online games, which they then sell to players for real currency.

31 Comments

  • Cloud737

    Posted May 2, 2009 2:25 am PT

    Oh man, what a big blow they dealt to The9. I wonder if it's because of EA owning 15% of it (and that almost all devs, publishers and the like are trying to avoid EA like it's a suicide bomber).

    Heh, anyway, I can't stop to grin a little seeing that EA and it's loyal dog(s) got a good blow under the belt (even if it's insignificant in the end). A drop of 30% is humongous for anybody, and I'm sure The9 is probably on the floor now.

  • Link3301

    Posted Apr 26, 2009 5:27 am PT

    actualy sammoth most gold farmers are in china

  • Link3301

    Posted Apr 26, 2009 5:26 am PT

    actually sammoth most gold farmers are in china

  • yachtboy

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 8:27 pm PT

    @chas

    You ever go into the net cafes there? There are so many playing wow and other games it's insane. I lived there for over a year and I knew far too many people that would spend 2+ days playing wow. Gaming in China is alittle different, but still the same as it is here in the U.S. Right now I am living in Ireland and finding out how much it hurts to buy things in the Euro.....

  • trastamad03

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 8:30 am PT

    CHINA WILL PROSPER!

  • sammoth

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 8:06 am PT

    So does that mean there going to sell gold in China now ? Oh ! I get it it's to create american jobs for us now we will have American Gold Farmers on a server in China.

  • fredwv

    Posted Apr 18, 2009 12:47 am PT

    never known anyone from China in WOW that isn't a gold farmer...

  • gameking5000

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 6:46 pm PT

    NetEase is now the publisher it can what a publisher normally does.

  • jeffosoft

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 11:22 am PT

    what does this mean? I dont get how anything is going to change, did I miss something?

  • ChastheRipper

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 3:19 am PT

    i dont play wow, but i am an american gamer and i am working and living in china atm. i found the gaming community interesting but different in china. i know i am a minority reader here, but i am curious about chinese gaming news.

  • gameking5000

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:05 pm PT

    @Nerkcon

    What do you expect. IGN is larger than Gamespot. Remeber it also has a corporate company IGN Entertainment which includes Direct2Drive, Gamespy, FIlePlanet and more.

  • Nerkcon

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:56 pm PT

    @Shimo1989

    While that is true they should not intentionally limit to how much news they put out a day. Although I don't know the business of making money off websites like Gamespot; If they post too much news a day does it lower ad profits or something?

  • shimo1989

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:46 pm PT

    @Nerkon:

    While I agree that Gamespot is biased toward WoW, I don't find it to be a bad thing. In fact, given the immense popularity of the game, why should a gaming site such as Gamespot not focus its attention toward a game that has so many customers? I think there'd be far more people interested in WoW news than about any other MMO.

    @crunchb3rry:

    Please think before you submit a comment. The internet really doesn't need another stereotypical sinophobe commenting on everything with the word "China" in it.

  • Nerkcon

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:42 pm PT

    Wow, that reply of mine was longer and more messy than I thought, where is what I mean in a nutshell:

    1. Gamespot is lazy, has only about 6 updates a day on news while IGN has 6 updates per platfrom a day/

    2. IGN also talks about the less successful MMOs from failures like Age of Conan, to even free MMOs like Runes of Magic.

    3. None of us play on Chinese servers or have any gaming interests in China.

  • Nerkcon

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:34 pm PT

    Gamespot is biased to World of Warcraft. several big MMO news has hit recently; Warhammer first expansion announced, Age of Conan's overhaul patch... well nothing more from MMOs that anyone cares to think about lol.

    And gamespot only talks about free MMOs only when it's related to someone popular doing it like EA. IGN actually posts MMO news... that isn't only related to WoW And inculse free MMO news.

    Inclusion IGN MMO news > Gamespot's MMO news. I know a lot of people here play WoW but how many of you play WoW on Chinese servers or even care about China at all? yeah, exactly.

  • athenian29

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:19 pm PT

    Wah-waaaaah...

  • RebornJeremiah

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:01 pm PT

    @crunchb3rry

    what do you want? Chinese leather made in America?

  • LoserMike

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 3:47 pm PT

    @"crunchb3rry Posted Apr 16, 2009 2:59 pm PT Great, more work sent China's way. I just bought a leather jacket. Brand is "American Leather"...tag says "Made in China." Typical."

    Did you even read the article??? This is about WOW in China, where it's being hosted by one Chinese company and now it's going to be hosted by a different Chinese company. No Americans will lose their job from this. Americans, that is Activision Blizzard, actually make more money from this. It seems likely that NetEase paid more to host WOW than the9 did.

  • crunchb3rry posted Apr 16, 2009 2:59 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    crunchb3rry

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 2:59 pm PT (hide)

    Great, more work sent China's way. I just bought a leather jacket. Brand is "American Leather"...tag says "Made in China." Typical.

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