The9 sues Blizzard
by Zach Yonzon 
May 27th 2009 at 3:00PM
In an interesting twist to the dramatic saga of World of Warcraft in China, The9, the former distributor of the game until they lost the license last April, is suing Blizzard in two cases involving property loss compensation and commercial defamation. A company representative confirmed the news to sources at the same time stating that The9 will no longer comment on the matter. The Shanghai Pudong District People's Court will hear the assets damage case and the Shanghai No.1 Intermediate People's Court will hear the commercial defamation case on June 18 and July 8, respectively, according to 178.com. This news comes after the announcement that The9 was deep in the development of a game conspicuously similar to World of Warcraft called World of Fight. Numerous delays in the release of Wrath of the Lich King in China fueled rumors leading up the non-renewal of The9's contract. The situation became so dire that a large portion of mainland players migrated (re-rolled) en masse to WoW servers in Taiwan, where Wrath was available. In fact, some had made incredible progress in such a short time, such as killing Mimiron in hard mode despite having re-rolled. Blizzard had planned to award the contract to The9 competitor NetEase once their contract with The9 expires in June.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gryph667 May 27th 2009 3:06PM
International lawsuit. This is going to get very very messy. As in 40-15 AV messy.
Josh Bashara May 27th 2009 5:18PM
You guys are continuing to spread BAD journalism by entertaining the notion that there was anything to this "World of Fight." It was only a lost-in-translation teaser for the9 bringing Warhammer Online to China. That's all. And that's been pretty much confirmed by other news sources. Yet WoW.com continues to mislead readers that its some WOW ripoff, and this is at least the third time.
Do you work. Check your facts. Use your sources.
Desworks May 27th 2009 6:33PM
Indeed Josh. Warhammer Online was famous for bringing the exciting worlds of King of Fighters and Street Fighter to the Warhammer Mythos (See: http://www.wofchina.com/).
Maybe YOU should check you facts, rather than using internet speculation that was all based on the use of a Chaos Portal behind the initial splash as "proof".
thevitruvianman May 27th 2009 8:17PM
Seriously though, this whole WoF thing is just plain weird. Last time I looked it had screenshots from warhammer online, now it just shows a montage of street fighter characters? What the hell are they trying to pull.....
Gryph667 May 28th 2009 1:40AM
Ten gold says that they're pursuing this because some exec at the9 feels he's "lost face."
They were contracted to provide and deliver servers in China capable of current content. They failed to do this in a timely manner, such that their own player base was eroding and defecting to Taiwanese servers. When a company is unable to satisfy their contractual obligations, both to their partners and their customers, they are doomed. World of Fight is a side issue.
The crux is potentially how Blizz communicated their choice to not renew the contract to the9, and what subtext executives at the9 perceived; then take into account how those same executives perceived how Blizz's choice affected how they were viewed by their peers.
Asian culture is asian.
Robert M May 27th 2009 3:09PM
Maybe this will give the legal department something to do besides pick on Breanni and others like him.
Todd May 27th 2009 3:09PM
Hah hah hah. Seriously?
Blasterion May 27th 2009 3:10PM
This could be a bit disadvantageous for Blizz for this is on a local court which may rule in favor of its local client. International cases such as this can be complicated well I don't wish the loss
flairness May 27th 2009 3:18PM
I don't know how the courts work in China, but I would imagine Blizzard would ask that the case be heard in neutral territory.
Tirin80 May 28th 2009 11:49AM
Bliz spares no expense on their legal affairs, using the most ruthlessly efficient team in the area.
The9 lost operation of WoW because their legal people couldn't even get Wrath approved.
Somehow I don't think it'll be a tough fight.
SINisterWyvern May 27th 2009 3:10PM
Maybe The9 should have done their job in the first place
dengar May 27th 2009 3:12PM
HAHAHA wait a sec, I don't belive my eyes.
read it again. HAHAHA
First they couldn't make progress in releasing wotlk, then when they lost the contract they started makeing wow clone oh so cleverly choosing a very subtle title like world of fight and now they sue them for property damage? Oh i can see good fun times coming ahead with this one.
jjcoola998 May 27th 2009 3:19PM
LOL Looks like World of Fight didn't pan out to well. lawl
Volaro May 27th 2009 3:33PM
How strange. On the World of Fight website, it shows Street Fighter characters, among others.
Candina@WH May 27th 2009 3:33PM
It will definitely be interesting. I am not sure how property rights work in China's Hybrid Communist/capitalist economic system.
I know that China has not been very... um... energetic at enforcing foreign Intellectual Property rights within it's borders.
I wonder if The9 is going after blizz for investments The9 made in hardware/software in expectations that the license would be renewed. They may have a leg to stand on if that is the case.
To the poster above who said that Blizz should try to get it tried in a neutral location, that isn't going to happen. China has always protected chinese companies, and I doubt a chinese judge would grant that kind of motion. [I am not sayin a US judge would grant a similar motion either]
Ozzy79 May 27th 2009 3:45PM
"I know that China has not been very... um... energetic at enforcing foreign Intellectual Property rights within it's borders."
Lol, thats putting it lightly to say the least.
China replicates products and steals patented ideas all the time. From brand name watches, computer hardware, handbags, you name it - they steal it and reproduce it with inferior materials and sell it back to us. Oftentimes these inferior materials prove dangerous and/or toxic.
Wouldn't surprise me if World of Fight causes seizures (like some of their cartoons).
Fung May 27th 2009 4:18PM
for historical reference...
new york experienced its cultural boom because england was unable to enforce her copyright upon the new nation that had very little respect for british intellectual property at the time.
later, hollywood experienced its cultural boom because new york was too far away to effectively enforce IT'S copyrights
china's not doing anything unamerican here.
Ugkul May 27th 2009 7:38PM
The9 was pretty stupid to accept EA investment. It would mean exposing the workings of one of your most successful games to your competitor. Is it a surprise that Blizzard bolted? Duh.
AyaJulia May 28th 2009 2:15AM
"Wouldn't surprise me if World of Fight causes seizures (like some of their cartoons)."
COZ EVERY ASIAN COUNTRY IS THE SAME AMIRITE
Come on. That was Pokemon. Pokemon is Japanese. Don't cross countries, you end up looking really silly and not a little bigoted. :\
Tuhljin May 28th 2009 3:45PM
Fung: Cite your sources for your claim. My reading of history tells me cultural booms come when cultural developments occur in those locations, perhaps spurred by others' ideas (and even including some copycat activity in *some* quarters) but simply swiping them is not developing anything; nothing new = no boom. There's nothing any more "American" about violating intellectual property rights than any other crime is "American."