By Song Shengxia

After a 40-day suspension, the popular multiplayer online game World of Warcraft – WoW - finally passed its review by the Ministry of Culture it was announced yesterday.

But gamers still have another hurdle before they can resume playing the popular entertainment software.

WoW, operated by Netease, has been given an approval certificate by the MOC. It was suspended in June after the contract with the original Chinese franchise holder expire.

However, the software has to seek re-approval from the another government department before it can be re-released by its new mainland operator.

Burning Crusade is in the hands of the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), which is known for its strict policies governing such entertainment - and for heavily censoring material.

This means gamers must continue their anxious wait for the violent role-playing computer game to be re-booted by the government

And GAPP has the power to ban the game if it believes it contains unsuitable scenes.

That will be a blow to the millions of Chinese fans who have already played the game before it was suspended - making it an instant hit and money spinner.

However, Zhang Yijun, director of the Technology and Digital Publishing Division of GAPP, offered a beacon of hope yesterday, saying an initial examination went well. He denied there had been stalling tactics as claimed by many players.

“The review of WoW is proceeding as scheduled,” Zhang told the China News Service.

During the first review, “unhealthy” content such as violent scenes needed “to be altered”, he said.

“It will take longer to examine this version. When we finish, we will make our recommendations and ask Netease to amend the contents. There won't be big changes to the game and it won't take much longer. But it is hard to say when it will be available,” he said.

But few gamers believed GAPP would live up to its light touch promise.

“The government will most likely ban the game and I am not optimistic about the future of online games in China. The industry will probably struggle for survival,” Zhou You, an IT engineer in Beijing told the Global Times yesterday.

WoW is developed by Blizzard Entertainment, and was first released in 2005 though their then mainland partner The9, China's seventh largest online game company.

It received a massive response in China and made $300 million for The9.

But Blizzard switched its operator in China last month to Netease after its contract with The9 expired.

In order to prepare for the transition, WoW was suspended on June 7 and was supposed to be running again by the end of last month, as announced by Ding Lei, the CEO of Netease, on the company's website.

But the long suspension has fueled speculation that GAPP is seeking to ban the software because it believes it is bad for players.

“The review of WoW is an encouraging sign. The government finally realizes how bad the online games are for young people,” said Tao Hongkai, professor of Huazhong Normal University and an expert of anti-online game addiction.

“The fact that it takes a longer time for the government to examine the game proves it has some problems,” he said.

“The examination is essential and the unhealthy contents should be deleted to prevent it from polluting the minds of young people,” he added.

But WoW fan, Wen Boyang, echoed the sentiments of millions of players across the country.

“Everyone has their own way to vent their resentment, pressure and anger in life. We need to find some release. Many hang about in bars, drinking, dancing, smoking and taking drugs. We choose to play WoW. Which is healthier?” he told the Global Times.

“It's really not necessary to alter the contents of the game. The original was not deemed unhealthy,” said Wen.

“They'll ruin the original even if they don't ban it.”