It is likely that Guild Wars publisher NCsoft and top Chinese online game operator The9 have signed a licensing agreement to bring the popular MMO to China.

The contract will have The9 providing online services for Guild Wars for three years within mainland China.

Executives with Seoul, South Korea-based NCsoft are pleased. "The9 has a proven record of excellence in the Chinese market as a leading online game operator," said CEO Tack Jin Kim. "We are confident that through the partnership, Guild Wars will receive great response from Chinese gamers and once again raise the game‘s status in the global market."

The9 CEO and chairman Jun Zhu said that the deal was "predestined."

Guild Wars, developed by ex-Blizzard employees at Bellvue, Washington-based ArenaNet, is currently available in Korea, North America, Europe, Japan and Taiwan.

The standalone follow-up, Guild Wars Factions, is due to release on April 28, exactly one year from the original‘s 2005 launch.

From next-gen.biz