According to a source, the General Administration of Press and Publication of PRC has assigned Shanghai News and Publication Bureau to make a thorough investigation into the issue relating to the joint venture established by Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase. If it is proved that this joint venture is established to operate games, NetEase and Blizzard will be punished for violating the relevant regulations of China. Several Chinese online game operators analyzed, "The licensing mode grants foreign game developers little control over channels and clients, and they consequently receive drastically less revenue from the game." In such situation, how to effectively evade policy supervision so as to actually control the operation of their online game products in China has become one of the important strategic concerns of some foreign online game developers.

Because recently, many game medias and players are paying close attention to World of Warcraf's operating right transition, and because it relates to the key question whether joint venture companies can operate games in China, the General Administration of Press and Publication of PRC has specially assigned Shanghai News and Publication Bureau to investigate deep into this case. Industry analysts pointed out that, because the case involves some major regulations and policies, it's highly likely that the approval of World of Warcraft operating right transition will have been suspended before the investigation results come out.