Gamasutra is reporting on announced plans from EA to invest in The9, the Massive firm that currently runs World of Warcraft in the Chinese market (among several other properties). EA Mythic recently announced they would be sending Warhammer Online into Asia, and one could easily imagine The9 being an instrumental part of that endeavor. The WoW angle is another wrinkle to keep in mind, as well: "Shanghai-based MMO executive Bill Bishop points out in some detailed analysis on his weblog: 'EA and Vivendi Universal Games (owners of Blizzard, developer of World of Warcraft) are direct competitors. Perhaps the Blizzard-The9 contract does not have any protection for Vivendi in the event that a competitor takes a significant stake in The9, but that would be surprising.'"

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