Activision Blizzard is risking both user loyalty and subscriber dollars with an operator handover blamed for taking World Of Warcraft offline in China.

Regional subscribers have been without access to the game for a month, and the downtime looks set to continue. "We have met with some factors which are out of our control [and] the servers' reopening will be delayed,” read a statement by new operator NetEase. “As of now, we don't have a specific reopening timeframe."

Activision Blizzard’s switch from previous operator The9 took place on June 7. Its contract will see NetEase pay $301.5million in licensing, royalties, consultancy fees, hardware support and marketing expenditure over a three-year term, which the publisher hopes will mitigate the investment risks posed by such a hazardous changeover.

Operator changes in China are particularly problematic thanks to the government approval process imposed upon launches – or re-launches – of services such as MMORPGs, all of which require an official licence.

But while the Chinese userbase for WOW is believed to account for almost half the world’s players, the risks are considered negligible so long as the service resumes promptly. Speaking to Gamasutra in May, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian stressed that only 10 per cent of total revenues came from China.  With the NetEase contract paying $30-40million more than its predecessor, any losses would, he said, be “more than offset.”