A transition from operators The9 to NetEase meant that World of Warcraft was not available to the Chinese public until late September, but now the game has hit another snag in the region. Citing a report from JLM Pacific Epoch, WoW.com is reporting that the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) office has rejected the company's application for game operation in China.
The GAPP director says that it granted NetEase permission to launch a closed beta for World of Warcraft on July 30 assuming gamers were not charged and new accounts were not registered. On September 19, the new accounts were registered and NetEase started charging users, which the GAPP says happened without their permission. The GAPP indicates it will dicipline NetEase by suspending its Internet service.
At the same time, a Ministry of Culture of China has apparently denied claims that the GAPP will be able to suspend World of Warcraft opperations. The Ministry of Culture and the GAPP have been at odds over the regulation of online games in general. NetEase, for its part, has issued a release indicating that while it read the press release by the GAPP, it has received no official notification from the government agency.
For now, the status of World of Warcraft in China is unknown. Stay tuned to IndustryGamers for more updates.
