Blizzard Entertainment has numerous top titles on the market, but in China, which is as profitable as it is important, that’s the end of it for the time being. Reason are contractual discrepancies with a partner.
Activision Blizzard and NetEase had worked together for a whopping 14 years to place popular titles in China. There, some adjustments are usually needed to make games available, which is why western developers and publishers get a local partner on board. At Blizzard it was NetEase Games, but this cooperation has now come to an abrupt end.
The dissolved partnership between Activision and NetEase was already mentioned in the last financial report last week, but the full extent has only now become known. Now NetEase also spoke up. The company’s chairman spoke of having “a broken heart” himself because he will no longer have access to his WoW account in the future.
However, little is revealed about the specific background to the apparent disputes or disagreements between the two long-standing partners. Simon Zhu continued: “One day, when what happened behind the scenes can be told, developers and players will have a whole new level of understanding of how much damage an idiot can do. I feel terribly sorry for them Players who have lived in these worlds.”
Blizzard’s Mike Ybarra said in a statement that World of WarCraft, Hearthstone, StarCraft and Diablo 3 will be discontinued in China starting January 23, 2023. We are grateful for the passion of the Chinese community over the past almost 20 years. At the same time, Ybarra pledged to explore alternative ways to bring players back to China in the future.
NetEase Chief Executive William Ding added in a statement that there were “material differences regarding important terms” and that “the company was not able to reach an agreement”. However, as usual, we will be there for the Chinese players up to the last minute and secure the data and assets in all games.
However, Diablo Immortal should not be affected, because in relation to the action RPG spin-off there is a separate, long-term publishing agreement that will be continued.