http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/the9 http://kotaku.com/tag/the9

Liverpool FC is one of the world's oldest, proudest and most successful sporting teams. It's also on the shopping list of a Chinese video gaming giant. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5538002&view=rss&microfeed=true

While a Red 5 Studios press release claims the studio is only restructuring, sources close to the studio paint a much bleaker picture, complete with forced and voluntary resignations, strange declarations, and a new majority shareholder in China's The9. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5458445&view=rss&microfeed=true

After a two month hiatus, World of Warcraft has resumed full operations in China, where a switchover in local operators had been held up by government regulators and content changes. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5364212&view=rss&microfeed=true

As we've told you, Blizzard recently decided to change the company handling WoW for them in China. It was The9, and now it's NetEase. Or, it would be NetEase, if NetEase could actually get the game running again. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5302304&view=rss&microfeed=true

Never mind that The9 have lost the contract to run World of Warcraft in China to a rival firm. They're going to compensate by releasing a new game! Which...looks a lot like World of Warcraft. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5238453&view=rss&microfeed=true

Blizzard is switching up operators in China for World of Warcraft, losing long-time operator The9 in favor of NetEase, already the operator of nearly every other Blizzard game in the country. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5214591&view=rss&microfeed=true

The9, a Chinese company best known for operating the Mainland license of World of Warcraft, has bought a minority stake in Korean Company G10. G10 developed the popular Audition titles; under the terms of the agreement, The9 will get the stake for a cash investment of $38 million USD. G10 execs seem to be pleased they'll have more formal ties to a big Chinese player (and a nice little cash infusion), and The9 will hopefully get better support for G10 products. Hopefully this deal won't go down in flames like a couple of other Chinese-Korean deals I can think of. Full release after the jump. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=384370&view=rss&microfeed=true

The9 Limited, the operators of World of Warcraft in China, has announced that they recently achieved a peak of one million players online at the same time. That's not the fudgy sort of numbers you get for subscribers either - that is one million World of Warcraft accounts online and playing at one time. That's the biggest number they've seen since the game launched there back in 2005. Of course there are 1.3 billion or so people living in China, so a million is just a drop in a bucket, but that's a very big drop in a absolutely gigantic bucket. To put things in perspective, if a million people stood on your head, your skull would be completely crushed. Them's skull-crushing numbers right there, and before you go blaming gold farming, keep in mind that these are Chinese servers, not people accessing servers outside of the country, so nya. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=379047&view=rss&microfeed=true

Ai you - to add to the ever growing collection of bizarre stories from the Chinese gaming world comes news that a 17 year old high school student has been sentenced for setting a classmate on fire. What does this have to do with gaming, you ask? Because the kid 'thought' he was a WoW fire mage. Now, in China, the 'but the video game made me do it!' defense doesn't work so well (the kid was sentenced to 8 years in prison, his accomplice - who lured the victim outside with the old line about wanting to chat for a bit - was sentenced to 7, and both boys and their families were ordered to pay a 760,000 RMB restitution - over $100K USD - to the victim and his family), so there's nothing to gain - nor a lawsuit to pursue - by pointing the finger at Blizzard, The9, or Warcraft. From billsdue: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=337047&view=rss&microfeed=true

A Kotakuite emailed us yesterday regarding problems he (an expat living in Beijing) is having connecting to non-Chinese World of Warcraft servers (and the US version of the WoW site) as of 14 December. I nosed around to see if there was any news, and only found some pretty pissed off expats at both official WoW forums and a board for Shanghai expats. I didn't manage to dig up anything pertinent in Chinese, so I'm curious what's going on here. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=334451&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last week, Chinese WoW operator The9's CEO dropped the news that The9 and Blizzard were discussing the possibility of making WoW free to play in China. Zhu Jun, the CEO, said they were hoping to expand into new markets (last I checked, WoW wasn't hurting for subscribers in China, so I'm not sure what market they're looking at). Of course, as soon as the news was published in the Tianjin Daily, The9's PR people swooped in and back-peddled like mad: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=326056&view=rss&microfeed=true

The9 - the Chinese company that runs World of Warcraft on the Mainland - has purchased an over 50% stake in MSN China (which was originally launched as a 50-50 joint venture between Microsoft and Shanghai Alliance Investment, an attempt to get around government regulations). Despite having WoW in their stable, The9 lags behind Shanda and two other companies for market share; the acquisition of MSN China, plus the deal made earlier this year in regards to an active role for development on the 360 and XBLA could change that. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=304922&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's been out in the rest of the world for several months, but Chinese gamers have yet to see The Burning Crusade expansion pack for WoW - but The9, the Chinese operator for the game, has finally announced it will be arriving 10 September. Chinese gamers haven't gotten any new content since October of last year, and their patience is running thin - not a good position for a currently beleaguered company to be in (lawsuits, pissed off gamers, and possible early license termination - oh my!): More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=295849&view=rss&microfeed=true

Just because a lot of Chinese companies don't respect intellectual property rights doesn't mean they don't want you respecting theirs - Chinese IT firm Founder Electronics Co. is suing Blizzard for copyright infringement. Claiming that "it lost more than one billion yuan (132 million dollars) through the unauthorized use of five of its fonts" in World of Warcraft, Founder is bringing suit in Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court against Blizzard, Chinese company The9 (who runs the game in China), and Qingwentuwen, the company who distributes WoW in Beijing. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=290940&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a classic example of 'missing the forest for the trees,' the Chinese government has banned undead skeletons from World of Warcraft, insisting they be covered up with flesh. The9, the Chinese company that holds the license to operate WoW in China, complied with the order, as well as the demand to change player corpses into graves. The reason? Promoting 'harmonious society,' of course. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=275950&view=rss&microfeed=true

Remember back in April when rumors were swirling around that EA was buying a 19% stake in Chinese online gaming operator The9, and EA denied those rumors with a hearty, "There is no signed agreement with The9"? Well now there is a signed agreement with The9. The numbers may have dropped a little bit, with $167 million netting them a 15% share of the company, but there you go. Perhaps the amount slipped a little due to the premature announcement? More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=262062&view=rss&microfeed=true