But the Chinese govt. are under a lot of pressure both to "do something" about foreign MMO's and preserve their own games industry.
If Acti-Blizz follow the same pattern as the first expansion, then the Lich King expansion won't actually bring them much direct revenue as they'll give it away for free. The idea of course that it keeps a high number of paying subscribers online. There are bound to be questions about how much hassle this is going to be worth them if it's not thought the lack of the Lich King will hurt subscriptions too much. Especially if they are keen to get StarCraft II launched in Asia this year which has significant potential to cannibalise the WoW install base anyway.
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To be fair, Blizzard have played this down;-
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/blizzard-plays-down-talk-of-china-issues
But the Chinese govt. are under a lot of pressure both to "do something" about foreign MMO's and preserve their own games industry.
If Acti-Blizz follow the same pattern as the first expansion, then the Lich King expansion won't actually bring them much direct revenue as they'll give it away for free. The idea of course that it keeps a high number of paying subscribers online. There are bound to be questions about how much hassle this is going to be worth them if it's not thought the lack of the Lich King will hurt subscriptions too much. Especially if they are keen to get StarCraft II launched in Asia this year which has significant potential to cannibalise the WoW install base anyway.
*disclaimer: I'm short on this stock