Chinese online gaming company The9 has disclosed that it will commit $74.1m on Blizzard’s 3D MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW).
The9 is understood to have paid an initial non-refundable licence fee of $3.0m to Blizzard’s parent company Vivendi Universal in February this year.
The9 has also guaranteed approximately $51.3m in royalties, consisting of quarterly payments from $1.6m to $3.7m over a four year period.
The company has further promised to spend $13m for marketing and promotions of WoW, apart from $6.8m for certain events before the game’s launch. Vivendi will receive 22 per cent of the face value of sold WoW pre-paid cards sold as royalties.