Today, The9, the former mainland operator of World of Warcraft (WoW), made the following announcement to the public:

The9 will terminate the operation of World of Warcraft at 00:00 on June 7, 2009. We really appreciate your support and understanding to the dedicated efforts we've made in operating WoW during the past four years. The9 has formulated corresponding plans for refunding point card balance and undelivered security tokens to players. The related plans will be carried out on June 7. Before the WoW license expires, The9 has been working actively and initiatively on the compensation plan for the interests of all WoW players. As for issues like the refund of WoW point card balance and the 6th batch of security tokens, The9 will do the following:

1. Concerning the usable WoW point cards and account balances, no matter activated or non-activated, we'll return all the related money back to players after June 7, and different refund schemes will be available for players to choose from. We also hope Blizzard Entertainment can provide us all the data required for facilitating the refund in a cooperative and effective manner, so as to truly protect the interests of all WoW players.

2. With respect to the 6th batch of WoW security tokens that have been ordered but not delivered, The9 will return players all the prepaid cost.

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The9 will launch "WoW Refund Service Website" on June 7. With all the required data provided by Blizzard Entertainment, the Website will then allow players to check their point card balance and choose a particular refund scheme. Meanwhile, players can also make applications for receiving the refund of the 6th batch of security tokens. Starting from June 7, players are welcome to visit wow.the9.com to learn more details, check the balance and apply for the refund.

Thanks again for all your understanding and support! We'll make you informed of the progress of the related work continuously.

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