(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-28 14:41

China's first government-sponsored anti-corruption online game "Incorruptible Warrior" was shut down less than a month after it was launched by East China's Ningbo Haishu District Discipline Commission.

The announcement was posted on the game's official website and read, "according to notification from above, the game is closed."

An official with the local discipline commission told Xinhua said "it has been closed so it could be updated as more and more users have registered, overloading the server."

The game, the first of its kind to target corrupt behaviour of government officials, was released on July 25 and had reportedly attracted more than 10,000 players by August 1.

However, the game server could only accommodate 600 players at a time, according to head designer Hua Tong, because "it was created by amateur designers and the government only invested 100,000 yuan (US$12,500)."

The game requires players to learn governmental anti-corruption measures and to kill corrupt officials while avoiding attacks by their henchmen and mistresses clad in bikinis.

"The game is a new method of anti-corruption education," Hua said. But it has also been criticized by gamers as unprofessional. User "gmbbc" suggested it is improper to encourage players to kill corrupt officials in violent ways.

China had more than 31 million online game players by 2006 and the industry was making a total profit of more than six billion yuan (US$818 million).

It is not known when the game would be back online.