The9 Facing Bankruptcy If WoW Expansion Not Approved

16 Mar 2009 at 11:46:57 by Bill Vaughan

The company that operates World of Warcraft in China, The9, has told the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) that it will go bankrupt unless the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is approved by the regulator.

Reports last week claimed that The9 was having trouble getting the game past the regulators. A substantial sum was paid the the game's developers, Blizzard Entertainment, in April last year to secure the licence, and without the sale of the expansion The9 will not be able to recover the cost. An article on JLM Pacific Epoch reports GAPP has said that the issue lies with the game's unhealthy content, which was the same problem faced by WoW's first expansion, The Burning Crusade. This resulted in a delay while the game had to be redesigned to remove some of the scarier aspects, namely covering exposed bones on skeletons and replacing corpses with graves.

However, according to 'reliable sources' quoted on Yesky.com, The9 has been working overtime to release a 'masterpiece' on 31 March. They speculate that this will be Wrath of the Lich King, provided it is approved in time.

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