|
Netease holds on WOW 2nd expansion pack, WOW resumption unforeseeable
BEIJING, Jun 16, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --
Netease (NTES.NASDAQ) became the
operator of World of Warcraft (WOW) to replace The9 (NTCY.NASDAQ)
upon acquiring the license, but the company still hasn't applied for
the approval of a second expansion pack for the game, confirmed
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Press and Publication late Monday.
Netease's standstill on the expansion pack, The Wrath of the Lich
King, signals that WOW may not be made available for online gamers in
any clear timeframe, noted market watchers.
It's been learned that WOW's second extension pack was installed
and hosted on servers November 18 in the province of Taiwan, where it
absorbed a healthy amount of gamers.
Considering how well the second expansion pack performed, the
standstill of official examination and approval may directly dampen
Netease's WOW profitability, analysts said.
But Netease insiders disclosed that the package will pass
ratification in the near term.
WOW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed
by U.S. game runner Blizzard. Netease gained authorization to operate
the game in China's Mainland in June.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]
|