Chinese govt-sponsored MMO overloads servers

via Games Industry


Incorruptible Warrior Online, a Chinese MMO from the China Anti-Corruption Culture Gaming Net, has had to be closed temporarily so that server capacity can be upgraded.

According to a report on MSNBC the game, which has been part-funded by sponsorship from the Ningbo government, was designed for just 600 concurrent users, while 10,000 people had registered as of the beginning of August.

The game itself challenges the player to battle against corrupt officials, as well as their bikini-clad mistresses, and as the state media Xinhua News Agency put it, "requires players to learn government anti-corruption measures."

The game's designer, Hua Tong, added that the game was designed as "a new method of anti-corruption education."

While the game isn't popular on the scale of mainstream MMOs, it's an interesting approach to battling corruption, especially given the government's involvement.

It is also unclear whether or not capacity was restricted initially in order to create hype, or whether interest was genuinely underestimated.

It is not known at this point when the game may come back online, or how far capacity will be upgraded.