The9 Limited, in which Electronic Arts bought a 15 percent stake recently, won't charge users an additional account fee in order to play an expanded version of online game World of WarCraft, the Shanghai-based firm said yesterday.

World of WarCraft, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and operated by The9 in China, is the world's most popular online game and it has attracted 3.8 million players in China since it was launched nationwide two years ago.

The current WoW players in China will not need to purchase a new CD-Key, a sort of fee, costing about 30 yuan, as was previously expected, to play Blizzard Entertainment's expanded World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade, which is expected to be unveiled in China in the second half.

In Western markets, players have to pay for the CD-Key fee, Blizzard said.

Competitive

Chen Wen, an analyst at Beijing-based CCID Consulting Co, a research firm authorized by the Ministry of Information Industry, said no fee will be charged as the domestic online game market is fiercely "competitive."

The9, the country's No 3 game firm, has attracted high-end users through the WoW game and it hopes the new game will help it expand market share, Chen said.

Based on an hourly charge, WoW is the country's most expensive game, industry insiders said.

Shanda Entertainment, China's No 1 game firm, launched a free-to-play model two years ago and has increased its market share. NetEase.com, the No 2 company, also launched new games to attract more players.

Separately, The9 announced a promotion and advertising deal with Intel. Intel, the world's No 1 chip maker, aims to promote its new dual-core chipset platform to millions of Chinese game players, said Jane Price, Intel China's marketing director.

The9 will also diversify its business to move away from the high dependence on WoW.