The9 (NCTY) has entered into an agreement with Korea's NCsoft for an exclusive license to operate the Guild Wars game for three years.

Guild Wars is a competitive online role-playing game that rewards player skills. Players explore a rich fantasy game world, acquire skills, build personalized characters and compete in head-to-head guild battles with friends around the world.

More than one million units of the game have been sold worldwide in less than five months since it was launched in late April 2005, according to NCsoft's company data. Currently, Guild Wars is available in Korea, North America, Europe, Japan and Taiwan.

The new chapter of the Guild Wars franchise, Guild Wars: Factions, is expected to be launched in late April 2006.

Jun Zhu, The9's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are very pleased that NCsoft licensed its No.1 selling online role-playing game Guild Wars to The9 for its operation in mainland China. This once again proves that The9 is the partner of choice in China for renowned overseas developers. The9 continues to focus on its strategy of offering best quality games to Chinese gamers. Guild Wars®, a world class game with numerous unique features that appeals to players all over the world, is obviously another strong addition to our unparalleled game portfolio. The9 will further demonstrate its excellent operating ability and will work closely with NCsoft to offer Chinese players top-notch online game experience."