WoW Caught In Chinese Skirmish

A political turf war in China is putting World of Warcraft’s Chinese operations at risk. The country’s culture ministry is taking on the publishing regulator about which department is responsible for the approval of online games such as WoW, forcing the popular MMO to get approval from both groups.

The publishing agency has regulated online games in the past and ordered games shut down if it did not approve of the content. When WoW’s Chinese operator NetEase.com took over operations last year, the game was shut down for two weeks by the culture ministry while NetEase received approval to operate. So, it seems that either department can wield the mighty hammer of online control.

NetEase is applying to China’s publishing regulator to release The Burning Crusade, an expansion pack for World of Warcraft, even though players in China can already play the expansion.

In an apparent move to appease the regulator during the approval process, NetEase will suspend new player registration on the game for one week starting Feb. 8, though the game and its expansion are still running. NetEase says it is using the week to reward old players with free play time.

No one ever said dealing with the Chinese government was easy. I suspect NetEase isn’t amused about the irony of its name.

[via PC World]