World of Warcraft Now Launched in China - 7.6.05

In co-operation with Chinese publisher The9, Blizzard Entertainment have now officially launched their MMORPG World of Warcraft in China. For developers around the globe, the country offers unparalleled growth opportunities, a fact Mike Morhaime hints at in the official press release:

"It has always been a goal at Blizzard to become a major developer and publisher for the Chinese gaming market," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We feel that China offers a huge and eager audience and it is poised to become the next great region in gaming. We are simply thrilled to be bringing World of Warcraft to this great country. With fully localized content, a regional network infrastructure, and local, around-the-clock customer support, we believe that World of Warcraft will provide Chinese gamers with an unparalleled game experience."

Contrary to the sale in Europe and the US, the game can be downloaded for free at www.wowchina.com, but players will need to purchase a CD key to create an account and enter the game. The key comes at a price of 30 Yuan (about 3 euros or 2 pounds) and can be bought with a so-called Points Card which costs the same. While game time can be purchased on a monthly basis here, you can play WoW on an hourly basis in China - at an incredible rate of 0.45 Yuan/hour, amounting to 0.05 euros or 0.03 pounds respectively.

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