‘We had been notified by Shanghai Netease and discussed with them before the announcement. It’s a thoughtful decision,’ said Yu, a public relations officer with Blizzard Entertainment Inc, the developer of the game.

In April, the game’s operating right in China was transferred from The9, another onlione game operator, to Shanghai Netease . The two companies concluded their agreement in early June and the game resumed its services July 30 with an open testing programme.

However, The9?s operations approval for the game was not transferable to the new operator. The government requires the new online game operators to reapply for approval. After Shanghai Netease gets the final nod to re-launch its commercial operation, players will be charged about 0.5 yuan per hour through prepaid cards.

Many players in China have complained that the strict censorship on the game is the reaon why it takes too long for the game to reopen.

The game was reported to have about four million subscribers or active players in China, accounting for 30 percent of the total in the world.

China?s online gaming industry was estimated to be worth $2.70 billion, with about 49.36 million online gamers last year.

Source : Konaxis