Granado Espada fails to please Chinese market
August 28, 2008 by Joel Tan
Filed under Asian MMO, Asian MMO Players, Granado Espada, MMORPG News, The9
Yes, Granado Espada is undergoing what is described simply as “difficulties” in China, according to online games portal 17173 and RedlineChina. Well, it’s really no surprise, considering China is pushing—and pushing hard—the development of its online games industry by giving incentives to companies that excel. Granado Espada is a Korean-made MMORPG.
These “difficulties” may be bigger than Shanghai-based online games operator The9 is letting on. In the same articles, both 17173 and RedlineChina pointed to rumors that “The9 is now in discussion with Korean game developer Hanbitsoft to attain developing rights to Granado Espada.”
Here’s another quote: “Although Granado Espada is considered a content-rich game, Chinese players are unable to feel it because the content is too deep for them.”
In the past hour, I’ve been scouring the web for reactions to this rumor, and I have found Granado Espada blogger PJ Punla’s statements the most sensible.
Just remember, The9 has already bent over backward to appease the censors with one of its other games – you know, the one that just happens to be the most massive MMORPG on the planet right now? There was such a flap last year when The9 actually changed the appearance of the Undead race in World of Warcraft: the Undead used to be part flesh, part skeleton, with bones sticking out, but in order to get around a censorship review, The9 modified the Undead models to show no more skeleton.
The move, predictably, infuriated the Chinese WoW community, the more so because it was such a sop to Chinese president Hu Jintao’s statement about “[purifying] the internet of anything that might affect ‘national cultural information security’ or undermine [attempts] to promote a ‘harmonious society’.”
So, I myself am looking at this piece of news with apprehension … What happens if The9 screws up? Scary, scary thought.
Check out PJ Punla’s entire post on the topic here.
