For four years, millions of Chinese gamers entered World of Warcraft through a Shanghai company called The9. Jun Zhu founded it in 1999, when online games were becoming the main way young Chinese spent time on the internet. The9 licensed big foreign titles and ran the servers, billing and customer service inside China. It went public in December 2004, just as it was preparing to launch Blizzard's new game.

Renting Out Other People's Worlds

The9's model was to operate games that others had made. Foreign studios needed a local partner to deal with Chinese rules, payments and players. The9 paid for the license and earned its money from players' time cards and fees. World of Warcraft launched in China in 2005 and became its main business. The bet was that the best games would keep coming to the best operator.

From Azeroth to Bitcoin

The9 priced its ADSs at $17 in December 2004 and listed on Nasdaq as NCTY. In 2009 Blizzard moved World of Warcraft to NetEase, and The9 lost most of its revenue. It spent years trying new games without a hit. In 2021 it turned to crypto mining, and the stock jumped. As of July 2026 it held 285 bitcoin, and Jun Zhu still runs the company.

Cover: Snake (Mi): Nitan Shiro, from the series "Heroes for the Twelve Animals of the Zodiac (Buyu mitate junishi)", Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a legendary warrior (fantasy games).