Chinese fans of World of Warcraft and other Blizzard titles have had hard times, but now the manufacturer’s games are apparently returning to the Chinese market.
It was a black day for Chinese Blizzard fans when Blizzard and NetEase fell out at the end of 2022 and Blizzard had to withdraw almost the entire range of games from the Chinese market.
Activision Blizzard and NetEase had worked together for a whopping 14 years to place popular titles in China. Some adjustments are usually necessary there to make games available, which is why Western developers and publishers get a local partner on board, in this case NetEase.
Since then, almost all games except Diablo Immortal have been no longer available in China. But now things are moving on again, because NetEase and Microsoft, who have been in charge since the takeover of Activision Blizzard, have apparently agreed on a new cooperation.
Not only are Diablo, WoW and Overwatch returning to China, but Microsoft has also agreed to check whether new NetEase titles can be brought to Xbox consoles and other platforms. Certainly a win-win situation for the two major publishers. NetEase is the second largest video game manufacturer in China after Tencent.
It is currently not known when exactly the players will be available again in China.
“We at Blizzard are thrilled to resume our partnership with NetEase and work with great appreciation for the collaboration between our teams to bring legendary gaming experiences to players in China,” said Johanna Faries, president of Blizzard Entertainment, in a statement Press release. “We are eternally grateful for the passion the Chinese community has shown for Blizzard games over the years, and we are focused on bringing our universes back to players with excellence and dedication.”
“We celebrate our collaboration and are excited to begin the next chapter built on trust and mutual respect to serve our users in this unique community we have built together,” said William Ding, CEO and Director of NetEase . “Our commitment to providing a more exciting and creative entertainment experience remains undiminished, and we look forward to fostering positive synergies and supporting collaborations to bring the joy of gaming to a broader community.”
As promised, Diablo IV is the first title from Activision Blizzard to now also be available as part of Xbox Game Pass.
