AUG, 28, 2007 • Blizzard’s Chinese partner The9 announced that the release of the Burning Crusade expansion to World of Warcraft in China was finally set for Sept. 10. The hold-up was reported to be because of censorship by the Chinese government. Although reviews of games usually take one month to complete, the government has taken longer with Burning Crusade given the popularity of World of Warcraft inChina. Reports from withinChina indicated that Blizzard has been forced to make changes such as adding flesh to cover the bones of Undead characters in the game. Chinese players who wish to play the expansion now can do so with Soft-World inTaiwan, which launched the game there in March.

Impact: World of Warcraft is one of the only Western games to have legitimate success in the Chinese market.  Nearly half of the reported user base is fromChina.  The hold up on the expansion is a clear indication of one of the many challenges in trying to enter the Chinese market.  Arguably the biggest challenge is making it through government regulation, bureaucracy and ever changing regulations.