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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe 9 revenues drop by 94% after losing WoW
by Zach Yonzon 
Nov 30th 2009 at 8:00PM
Although The 9 downplays the loss, pointing to notable growth in their other licenses, such as FIFA Online 2 and Granado Espada, the impact of losing the publishing rights to Blizzard's phenomenal MMOG was more than apparent. World of Warcraft has a tumultuous history in China, with The9 losing the rights to rival Netease back in June, with rumors swirling about the change as early as April of this year.
World of Warcraft is currently in the middle of a power struggle between two Chinese government agencies, resulting in the suspension of the game. Players in mainland China have reportedly not had access to the game in months and there were numerous delays to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, putting the future of World of Warcraft in the country, as well as its potential millions of dollars in profits, in question.
[via Massively]
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Economy
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Blackhorn Dec 1st 2009 11:52AM
You just 'sploded the brains of 10 out of the 11 million wow players.
I roll my eyes.. I don't even try to explain anymore.. when people work under the notion that farming mats makes them free.
WoA Totem Nov 30th 2009 10:10PM
This article is long overdue considering the shitty service The9 offers.
PvtDeth Nov 30th 2009 10:20PM
It's because pandas are illegal in China and all forasken have to have their bones painted red. And also games are pandas and pandarens are communists and tombstones are illegal and China is illegal and Blizzard is China and and...
Somebody else take it from here.
poggg Dec 1st 2009 2:03AM
And then John was a Zombie?
Derick Nov 30th 2009 10:44PM
What does this mean for Blizzard?
PvtDeth Nov 30th 2009 11:25PM
Functionally nothing. The point is, The9 lost their contract with Blizzard, that's why their revenues ared down so dramatically. The effect on Blizzard comes from the bureaucratic deathmatch over certifying The9's successor. In THAT fight, Blizzard is losing billions. Not just the loss of it's subscribers, but millions of potential subscribers in possibly the world's greatest video game market. Who knows how many they would have by now if service had never been interrupted?
Derick Dec 1st 2009 1:25AM
But that's what I mean. How much is Blizzard losing because of the loss of this contract and all of these users? How big of a section of their market is China?
Blackhorn Dec 1st 2009 11:53AM
China was their largest chunk of players. Whenever you see them boasting 11 million players, know that only 2.5 million (or so) are in North America.
Karosene Dec 1st 2009 2:54AM
Ahhh, communism at it's finest.
PvtDeth Dec 1st 2009 1:00PM
Communism has very, very little to do with it. China literally invented bureaucracy. And I'm not talking Industrial Age, this is B.C. timeframe. If China were to turn into a full representative democracy tomorrow, not much would change because of centuries of entrenched bureaucratic philosophy. This whole fight is nothing more than upper level office jockeys in a peeing contest.
Communism is just the label that happens to apply to a semi-freemarket capitalist oligarchosocialist state. The only accurate label that can be applied to China is "China."
aol sucks balls Dec 2nd 2009 3:26PM
Ok, so instead of saying "Communism is backwards", we should just say "China is backwards"? I'm fine with that. Fuck China. They are a bunch of insecure, xenophobic, power-hungry, greedy assholes.
Somehow I feel like this will be a little worse received than "Communism is backwards".