China's General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has terminated NetEase's application seeking approval to operate Blizzard's World Of Warcraft.
The government agency said that NetEase should suspend charging users to play the game and not allow new account registrations.
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GAPP made the announcement on its website on Monday, citing NetEase's violation of a rule banning new account registration and collection of subscription fees during a closed beta during August, according to Times Live.
In response, NetEase said it believes it is "in full compliance with applicable PRC laws" and is "currently seeking clarification from the relevant governmental authorities".
It's unclear whether World Of Warcraft will be banned permanently in China. The country's existing "three-determination regulation" means that the Ministry of Culture, GAPP and the State General Administration For Radio, Film And Television all play a role in Chinese game regulations.
Last month the MOC and GAPP clashed when Tuo Zuhai, deputy director of the MOC's Department Of Cultural Marketing, said that his agency was "the competent authority in charge of the administration of online games" and that GAPP "must stop the surly interference in domestic online game enterprises".
According to BDA China analyst Liu Ning, "The chaos is mainly due to the vague demarcation of responsibilities between GAPP and the Ministry of Culture. It is not yet certain what will happen - to be honest, it depends on who will finally win (in the turf war)."
World Of Warcraft fully re-launched in China in late September following almost four months of downtime. The majority of regional subscribers had been without access to the game since early June after NetEase signed a three year deal with Blizzard to become WOW's new local operator, taking over from The9.
awaits subsequent articles. WOW perminantly banned in China and then shortly afterwards Chinese revolution; wow to blame.
Seriously the chinese are crazy for WOW i spent some time out there last year visiting a mate of mine that was teaching out there and you couldn't go anywhere without banners for it, internet cafes allowing people to play it for longer. Blood elves on coke cans.
If they got rid of it there would be a literal horde of chinese people angry at the decision.
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