WoW set for limited use ahead of relaunch

By Chen Qian  |   2009-7-22  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE popular online game "World of Warcraft" will be made available for limited market use from the end of July in preparation for a relaunch.

It will be limited to players who already have game accounts, an official with General Administration of Press and Publication, told Xinhua News Agency yesterday.

Developer Blizzard Entertainment is revising the game and the relaunched version needs to be approved by the administration.

The limited market test will focus on players' data recovery and no new accounts will be made available, the report said.

Blizzard Entertainment licensed NetEase.com Inc as its Chinese mainland partner for the game for three years from June after its current license agreement with The9 Ltd expired.

WoW, a massive, multiplayer online role-playing game has nearly 5 million Chinese subscribers, accounting for 30 percent of its global participants, according to the report. When the game was stopped for two months, many players who had subscribed wanted it relaunched or be paid a refund, the report said.