Paying Player Base for World of Warcraft (WoW) has Surpassed 1.5 Million in China

From Yahoo Finance (press release): The9 Announces World of Warcraft Exceeds 1.5 Million Paying Players in China

"The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY) today announced that its paying player base for World of Warcraft (WoW) has surpassed 1.5 million in China - just a month following the game's commercial launch on June 7, 2005. WoW is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment."

"Mike Morhaime, President and Co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said: "World of Warcraft's success in China has quickly exceeded our expectations, and seeing Chinese gamers respond so enthusiastically to the game has been extremely gratifying. We thank the players for embracing World of Warcraft, our partner The9 for helping to make all of this possible, and the Chinese authorities for their support of Blizzard Entertainment."

"Chinese gamers across the country have embraced World of Warcraft," said Michael Fong, Blizzard Entertainment Managing Director, Greater China, "and we are committed to responding with continual updates to the game, including new dungeons for players to explore, additional player-vs.-player content, ongoing live events, and much more. Blizzard and The9 also remain dedicated to delivering unparalleled service to Chinese gamers with fully localized content and local, around-the-clock customer support."

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