The popular view that China has turned into some sort of free-market paradise since the Olympics has hit a wall - and along with it comes Activision Blizzard and World of Warcraft. Rumour has it that the People's Republic's General Administration of Press and Publication is looking into the deal struck between ActiBlizz and NetEase.

That deal, signed on April 16th, saw ActiBlizz assign NetEase the rights to run WoW in China. According to MMOsite, "The Chinese law stipulates that, foreign enterprises are not allowed to operate online games in the Chinese market in the form of wholly owned company or joint venture."

The proposed investigation apparently revolves around the notion that, "NetEase paid a sky-high revenue share to Blizzard, which will quadruple the gains of Blizzard compared to the gains obtained from the cooperation with (previous Activision Blizzard partner in China) The9," which seems like a good deal really.

Also alleged is that Activision Blizzard and NetEase have established a joint partnership.

We'll stay on the case.