‘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

The growth figure show that global economic chaos didi not negatively affect the Chinese online game market in 2008.

The firm projected that the market will grow to $5.5 billion in 2012.

The Pearl report said that the Chinese game operators are optimistic about the years ahead, saying the global economic downturn has had little impact on their businesses, as games are “small-ticket” items that people are still willing to buy.

The most popular online game in China is Netease’s Fantasy Westward Journey, which reached over 1.8 million peak concurrent users. Following that title is Giant?s Zhengtu Online (1.5 million users), Tencent’s Dungeon Fighter (1.2 million) and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft (1 million).

Pearl also said there are six game operators in China that have crossed the $200 million revenue mark: Tencent, Changyou, The9, Netease, Shanda and Giant.

About 70 percent of China’s 298 million Internet users are under 30 years old, Pearl said.

Pearl’s Allison Luong elaborated on the study. ?Trends to track in 2009 include the growth of social networking sites in China, with over 55 million users, and their cross-pollination with games.

“One overall concern is the lack of diversification with many game operators relying on a single title for the bulk of revenues.

“In addition, a glut of content with more than 200 games on the market, makes releasing a breakout hit increasingly difficult.?

Source : Konaxis

Jun Zhu, chairman and CEO of The9 said in a prepared statement, ‘In the first quarter of 2008, we attained aggregate peak concurrent users of approximately 1.2 million for games that are currently in commercial operations, and as of March 31, 2008, we had over 38.1 million total registered users.’

Net revenues attributable to the operations of subscription-based games, which included revenues from game playing time, merchandise and installation package sales, increased by 1% quarter-over-quarter and by 47% year-over-year to RMB392.4 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net income for the first quarter of 2008 was RMB89.7 million, a 4% increase from RMB86.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, and a 36% increase from RMB66.1 million in the first quarter of 2007.

As at March 31, 2008, The9′s total cash and cash equivalents balance was RMB1.78 billion, compared to RMB2.2 billion as of December 31, 2007.

Source : Chinatechnews

The9 (NCTY) says it will suspend the operations of World of Warcraft, Soul of The Ultimate Nation, Granado Espada, Joyful Journey West, and MU from May 19, 2008 to May 21, 2008, in response to the government’s call for three days of mourning for the earthquake tragedy in Southeast China. The operations of the foregoing games will be reestablished starting from the calendar day of May 22, 2008.

Rival Shanda (SNDA) says it will resume its game services at 1:00 A.M. on May 22, 2008. Perfect World (PWRD) will resume its game services at at the start of May 22, 2008 in accordance with the end of the three-day national mourning.

The earthquake hit Sichuan province last Monday, May 12, 2008, leaving thousands dead and many more injured. From today until May 21, China will observe a three-minute moment of silence each day at 14:28.

Source : Chinatechnews

Net revenues for the third quarter of 2007 increased by 17% quarter-over-quarter and by 35% year-over-year to RMB316.0 million. The9 reported total gross revenues of RMB333.3 million, which increased by 17% compared to RMB284.6 million in the second quarter of 2007 and by 36% compared to RMB245.8 million in the third quarter of 2006. The increase in total revenues was a combined result of increased online game services revenues and other revenues, offset slightly by decreased revenues from game operating support, website solutions and advertisement.

Gross profit for the third quarter of 2007 increased by 15% quarter-over- quarter and 23% year-over-year to RMB132.2 million. For the third quarter of 2007, operating expenses were RMB88.5 million, representing a 19% increase from RMB74.5 million in the previous quarter and a 99% increase from RMB44.6 million in the same period of last year.

For the third quarter of 2007, net income was RMB38.2 million, which decreased by 25% from RMB50.6 million in the second quarter of 2007 and by 41% compared to RMB64.3 million in the third quarter of 2006.

For the third quarter of 2007, fully diluted adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) per share was RMB3.99, compared to RMB4.42 for the second quarter of 2007 and RMB4.46 in the third quarter of 2006.

Source : Chinatechnews