According to the latest reports, Russian developer Astrum Nival’s plans to bring Allods Online to China may have hit a brick wall, a gigantic one that is. Set to be officially launched by publisher Giant Interactive, Allods Online was touted as the Free to Play version of a “WoW-killer” and garnered overall positive responses since entering Beta late last year. So what happened just before the game is ready to launch?
OldBlade99 (below), a prominent microblogger and a veteran in the China online gaming industry, said that Allods Online is found to be too strong-flavored by the authorities vetting the game, with bloody scenes, PK being too violent and also allowing same-gender marriage in-game as well. Someone over at Giant Interactive must be sleeping on the job to miss out on the marriage issue.
While the official website is being listed as “under maintenance” now (below), Allods Online is set to return with a new game version, but launch will no doubt be delayed in the world’s biggest online gaming nation.