World of Warcraft

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	World of Warcraft
Alias(es)	WoW; WOW
Type	Fantasy 3D MMORPG
Developer	Blizzard Entertainment; later acquired by Century Horizon and operated as Century Blizzard 555 557
China Operator	Century Interactive Entertainment initially; The9 after Blizzard terminated the first agreement; Century Interactive Entertainment again after The9's term expired 240 296 557
Status	Active; Wrath of the Lich King launched by Century Interactive Entertainment on June 1 after it regained exclusive China operating rights 557 560
First Appearance	Chapter 95

World & Setting

World of Warcraft is set across the continents of Kalimdor and Azeroth, separated by the Endless Sea. Its central conflict follows the collapse of the truce between the Alliance and Horde after they fought together against the Burning Legion. 241

Faction	Documented Races
Alliance	Dwarf, Elf, Human
Horde	Orc, Tauren, Undead

The promotional material also presents Warriors, Mages, Warlocks, Druids, Hunters, Shamans, and Priests. Characters of different races begin in separate locations. 221 241 292

Gameplay

Exploration and progression

World of Warcraft features an open world, a real-time-synchronized day-and-night system, physics-based movement, and item drops considered groundbreaking by trial players. 292

• Players select a faction, race, and class before beginning in separate starting areas. 292
• Quest directions rely on written descriptions rather than route guidance, which Xu Xiake considered unfriendly for inexperienced players. 292
• Flight paths connect areas such as the Horde starting regions and Orgrimmar. 292
• Hunters can tame pets; Xu Xiake's level-10 Hunter tamed a wild boar with a charge ability. 292
• The game includes a double jump but no comparable advanced traversal system. 292

Group content

Instances emphasize party composition, threat management, and cooperation.

• Xu Xiake's party—Warrior, Mage, Priest, Druid, and Hunter—cleared Molten Core in 12 minutes during a trial event. 292
• A skilled tank can sharply reduce instance difficulty by maintaining threat and using taunts to recover enemies that leave the tank. 292
• The open-beta level cap was raised from 40 to 45, and Zul'Farrak was added alongside Scarlet Monastery. 357
• Southshore and Arathi Basin serve as contested areas for Horde and Alliance players. 357

Class balance

Balance was a major issue during the Chinese closed beta.

• Shaman — Described as exceptionally strong in both PvE and PvP, combining magical and physical damage with Windfury. 357
• Paladin — Presented as the Alliance counterpart to the Shaman. 357
• Warrior, Hunter, and Rogue — Each had distinct strengths and weaknesses, though overall balance remained questionable. 357

Development and Localization

Blizzard's repeated beta revisions forced Tianji Studio to continually revise localized text, server deployments, and other preparations. After one month of nonstop work, the project had fallen 30% behind schedule. 243

• The English game package contained roughly 1.5 million English words, expected to become nearly 4 million Chinese characters after localization. 242
• Localization required installation, deployment, debugging, translation, and voice acting. 242
• Tianji Studio was planned for 300 employees but initially had fewer than 200; Blizzard-game enthusiasts were specifically recruited for the project. 242
• Chen Hao organized the North Underworld Squad to study World of Warcraft's mechanics, analyze its engine, and adapt useful elements for Wuxia World. 243
• The team later developed plans for a paid auxiliary plugin, Century Snow Sweeper, with boss warnings, inventory optimization, damage statistics, and bug research. 298

China Publishing History

Event	Details
Initial pursuit	Chen Hao identified World of Warcraft as a priority project and sought to secure its China publishing rights while developing Wuxia World as an Eastern-fantasy counterpart. 95
Asia-Pacific bidding	Blizzard opened a three-round selection process; 51 companies submitted applications. Century Interactive Entertainment created Tianji Studio specifically for the bid. 221 222
Century Interactive Entertainment agreement	Century Interactive Entertainment secured exclusive mainland China operating rights for four years after negotiations with Blizzard. The agreement allowed time cards or monthly subscriptions, lowered Blizzard-procured server prices from $600,000 to $500,000 per unit, and granted the operator limited database-modification rights with Blizzard authorization. 240
Promotion and beta planning	The China plan scheduled promotion from January 1, limited testing from March 1 to March 31, and public beta for April 18, 2005. 273
Termination and transfer	Blizzard unilaterally terminated its agreement with Century Interactive Entertainment. On January 16, Blizzard and The9 announced that The9 would receive exclusive China publishing rights. 294 296
The9 launch schedule	The9 announced closed beta and open beta dates, later setting its closed beta for May 4 and launching open beta alongside Wuxia World's paid launch. 311 342 357
Return to Century Interactive Entertainment	After Century Horizon acquired Blizzard, Century Interactive Entertainment received exclusive mainland China operating rights for another four years following The9's April 30 expiration. 555 557
Wrath of the Lich King	Century Interactive Entertainment launched Wrath of the Lich King on June 1 after staff worked with Century Blizzard engineers to revise the expansion for release. 560

Major Conflicts

Blizzard and Century Interactive Entertainment

Blizzard and Century Interactive Entertainment clashed during licensing negotiations over the time-card system, mandatory server procurement, and player-data control. Chen Hao rejected clauses he viewed as compromising operational independence. 238

Blizzard later ended the partnership unilaterally. Century Interactive Entertainment publicly demanded $77.69 million in damages and pursued legal action before Blizzard eventually paid compensation, ending the dispute. 295 311

Competition with Wuxia World

Wuxia World was developed partly from World of Warcraft's structural inspiration, including faction conflict, instances, raids, class roles, loot distribution, and group-content mechanics. 124 275

• Blizzard considered Wuxia World a threat to World of Warcraft's Chinese market position and sought a supplementary agreement that would favor World of Warcraft; Chen Hao refused. 293
• Wuxia World's smooth performance during World of Warcraft's troubled open beta led players to compare the two games directly. 358
• Chen Hao later stated his goal of surpassing World of Warcraft in the MMORPG market through Wuxia World. 275

Reception

World of Warcraft was portrayed as a major Blizzard classic with lasting popularity and a powerful global fanbase. Its North American open beta crashed Blizzard's servers on launch day due to overwhelming demand. 95 278

• In North America, it sold 240,000 copies within 24 hours of open beta and exceeded 1 million copies sold by the time Blizzard reviewed the data. 293
• Its official Chinese promotional video received more than 100,000 likes and over 10,000 comments. 241
• Players praised its models, physics engine, open world, real-time setting, and loot system, while some found its Western fantasy setting less culturally immersive than Wuxia World. 292
• The9's open beta suffered severe lag when nearly 400,000 players attempted to enter servers built for roughly 300,000 concurrent users. 358
• The9 responded with registration closures and server queues, while players criticized both The9 and Blizzard on official forums. 358

Relationships

• Blizzard Entertainment — Original developer and former owner; its negotiations and later contract termination shaped the game's first China publishing cycle. 240 294
• Century Interactive Entertainment — Initial China operator, localization team organizer, and later exclusive operator after Century Horizon acquired Blizzard. 240 557
• The9 — China operator following Blizzard's termination of the Century Interactive Entertainment agreement; struggled with localization, infrastructure, and launch stability. 296 308 358
• Wuxia World — Direct MMORPG competitor developed by Century Horizon; adopts and reworks several World of Warcraft-inspired systems for an Eastern Wuxia setting. 243 275
• Chen Hao — Blizzard-game fan, World of Warcraft's first China publishing bidder, and later owner of Blizzard through Century Horizon. 237 555

Notable Quotes

“A World Awaits.” 241

“It has been four years since the Alliance and the Horde fought side-by-side to resist the invasion of the Burning Legion...” 221

Trivia

• Century Interactive Entertainment's initial World of Warcraft team was named Tianji Studio, the fourth studio under the Big Dipper Business Unit. 221
• Chen Hao's early long-term plan was to control both Western-fantasy MMORPG players through World of Warcraft and martial-arts fans through Wuxia World. 95
• After Century Horizon acquired Blizzard, Chen Hao proposed a World of Warcraft-universe card game, Warcraft Heroes Chronicle, as part of Blizzard's future design package. 557