BEIJING - Alipay has been prevented by the Ministry of Culture from offering purchase services for Diablo III, an online game that yet needs approval for the mainland market.

Activision Blizzard's Diablo franchise built a solid fanbase in China with the games offline PC versions. However, to Chinese players' dismay, the 2012 global release of Diablo III, which marked the series' switch to multi-player online mode, didn't include China, prompting rumors that the game had been censored for excessive gore and blood.

Mainland fans migrated to other servers, mainly in Taiwan where the game is legitimately on offer, to buy product keys for game access and in-game money.

Public complaints in March were led to an investigation of Diablo III offers via Taiwan servers, according to a ministry statement released on Friday. The company then voluntarily closed off the service, which was in violation of China's online gaming regulations. No group is allowed to provide financing services for unapproved online games. The ministry has received no applications from any local companies to acquire the game's mainland operation rights.

In 2013, Alipay was forced by the ministry to cancel similar services for Diablo III. The latest offense came just prior to the release of the game's new expansion set.