Chinese gaming company The9 Limited (NCTY) has entered into an agreement with Korea's Yedang Entertainment and T3 Entertainment to have an exclusive license to operate Audition in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Audition is an advanced casual dancing online game and is currently reportedly one of the most popular casual games in mainland China.

The9's exclusive license of Audition, which is signed through its wholly-owned subsidiary, will be effective from August 1, 2008, and the term of the license will be for two years from the commercial launch date of the game in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

If the game is available for licensing prior to the current license's expiration date, the effective date of The9's exclusive license will be advanced to an earlier date. Under the agreement, The9 has agreed to pay a milestone-based license fee in the amount of US$8 million and a royalty equal to 30% of the game revenues provided that the minimum royalty payable over the license period shall be no less than US$35 million.

In May 2007, The9 also obtained the exclusive license to operate Audition 2, the sequel to Audition, in mainland China.