NetEase Takes Over the代理 Rights of World of Warcraft; 5 Million Players Become Trading Goods

by wuyuan_hau on 2009-04-17 13:21:38

One day earlier than originally planned, NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES) and Blizzard Entertainment jointly issued a statement yesterday afternoon, officially announcing the news of the change in the Chinese regional agency rights for the globally most profitable online game, "World of Warcraft".

In their joint announcement, both parties stated that as of June 1 this year, an affiliate company under NetEase will exclusively obtain the operating rights for "World of Warcraft" in mainland China, for a period of three years. With this, the first operator of "World of Warcraft" in mainland China, The9 Limited (NASDAQ: NCTY), is officially out.

The capital market immediately reacted to this news. NetEase's stock price slightly increased by 1.99% yesterday, closing at $29.79. Meanwhile, The9's stock price plummeted by 24.66%, closing at $9.96.

The core of the transaction revolves around the 5 million players.