NetEase calls halt to new WoW account registration

The nation's third-largest online game operator NetEase.com suspended new user registrations for World of Warcraft (WoW) in China, the company said in a statement on its website yesterday.

China's publishing regulator, the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), yesterday accepted NetEase's reapplication for a license to operate the popular game and indicated it would begin processing the request.

The move may signal an end to a regulatory turf war over the country's lucrative, online game market, according to experts. NetEase officials were not available for comment yesterday.