World of Warcraft is now running again in China after being down for weeks following the change of server operators in the region.
The game has been offline since June 7, when Blizzard Entertainment switched to online gaming company NetEase after the operating license expired for its former partner, local operator The9.
The hold-up was due to the clearance of the game's content. New operators of foreign games have to apply for a license and submit the game for government approval. And because changes have been made to WoW since former operator The9 applied for a license, the Chinese government took issue with some of the new content, according to a report by Yahoo!
Now that the game is back online, we can see what content has been modified and approved by China.
Following a beta test of the changed content that began on July 30, undead skeleton characters continue to have fleshed-out facelifts, a change implemented back in 2007. However, now bare bones strewn in the environments have been replaced with sandbags and skulls and severed heads portrayed in various icons have been changed to boxes, evidenced by screenshots shown on MMOSite.com. The blood depicted in game has also changed from red to black.
*World of Warcraft *isn't the only game lately to yield to China's videogame violence standards, and it certainly won't be the last. Recently, the nation's Ministry of Culture cracked down on mafia-themed games, with many sites voluntarily removing the objectionable content.
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