One can find my previous article on WOW below:
http://chinese-net-gaming-stock.blogspot.com/2009/06/wow-had-already-passed-3-fourth-of-way.html
Previously, NTES and Blizzard had a joint statement saying that they will start to operate WOW at the end of June. Clearly, they are not able to do it.
NTES issued a public apology to Chinese users:
http://it.sohu.com/20090701/n264884981.shtml
In it, NTES didn’t specify the reason for the delay. It also didn’t say when WOW will be re-opened.
President of Blizzard said it (the interruption) is not a big deal:
http://it.sohu.com/20090630/n264863497.shtml
But the unknown is not good. Finally, the portals got hold of the relevant government department and interviewed the person who is in charge of the approval process:
http://it.sohu.com/20090701/n264903812.shtml
According to the person (a mid level bureaucrat) in charge of the approval process, government has up to 20 days to approve the application. But it also has up to 60 days to inspect the content of the game.
I believe there was a misunderstanding between NTES/Blizzard with the Chinese government. NTES probably thought since WOW had already been approved for NCTY, government no longer need time to inspect its content.
Therefore, NTES thought it only has to wait for up to 20 days before it got government approval. Thus, it and Blizzard made the announcement for restarting the game by the end of June.
But now, it is clear that the (up to) 60 working days of inspection is needed. Maybe the government thought there are a lot of new content being added for WOW between now and the time NCTY first submitted a few years ago, that a new review is warranted.
What does this mean? It has to be good news to SNDA’s AION. NTES’s TX2 will probably benefit from it also.
But overall, it is a temporary bad news for NTES. But does this have long term negative effect on the popularity of WOW in China? No, not at all. As long as WOW is the number 1 game in the west, its place in China is secured.
But it does means NTES will have to forgo a part of the summer season to make money from WOW.
Two other observations can be made here. First, this delay has nothing to do with the suits filed by NCTY against Blizzard. This explains the complete silence of NTES over the conflict between NCTY and Blizzard. That conflict doesn’t affect NTES at all.
The second observation is that it is clear now that if any foreign game companies want to change Chinese partner, even if it is perfectly legal under contract, he will have a high price to pay. Chinese government made certain of that.
Finally, will the full approval process last another 60 working days? I seriously doubt it. WOW had already been approved and people of playing it for long time already. If the government disapproves it, that means it disapproves something it already approved before. It is a slap on its own face. It also won’t take close to 60 days to approve it. It looks bad on them for being so inefficient. Finally, they really don’t need that long to inspect something they already inspected already.
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The purpose of this blog is for my personal use. It serves as my personal diary as I investigate Chinese internet/gaming companies for investment purpose. If you have any comments or disagreement, please give me feedbacks.
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3 comments:
WOW won't open until September. U r terribly naive or u intend to mislead
The delay has everything to do with The9's lawsuit. Yes, Chinese government doesn't like the fact that two Chinese companies fighting over to cut each other's throat. If Chinese companies do not know how to protect their rights, the government will do it on its behalf. But The9's lawsuit provides the excuse for the government to step in.
You need a plaintiff to sue a defendant, even if the judge is edging to jump to be a plaintiff itself
I am a very astute value investor. I do not believe that warren buffett is the same value investor he was years ago if he was the value investor of years ago he most certainly would have caught the spectacular comeback of ford motor. The stock was trading at just 1 dollar a share two years ago the shares trade at 10 dollars today and the company is well on its way to becoming the leading world automobile company. another example is apple computer the shares traded at just 5 dollars in 1998 today they trade at 440 dollars. He did not see this one either their are numerous other examples. I could go on and on their are dozens of stocks major companies to. Warren tends to concentrate on megacap stocks. Their returns tend to be lower Warren has stated this many times.
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