Since 2008, Blizzard has relied on NetEase to publish their games in China. China’s second-largest video game company plays a pivotal role in ensuring that all of the studio’s games comply with the country’s strict video game laws. However, this partnership is now coming to an end. In a press release released Wednesday, November 16, Blizzard announced that its games will not be released in China starting next year.
Indeed, the two companies could not agree on the terms of their new contracts. According to Bloomberg, financial trouble was not the only source of contention. Conflict could also arise at the intellectual property level and use of player data. In fact, NetEase will stop all releases for all titles in the Blizzard catalog in the coming days.
Blizzard had to withdraw from the Chinese market
Chinese servers for Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Starcraft, Heroes of the Storm, Diablo III, and Warcraft III: Reforged will shut down on January 23, 2023. Note, however, that the Dragonflight expansion for World of Warcraft is highly anticipated. It will be well distributed by fans of the series both before the second season of Overwatch 2 and before the year ends. Finally, Diablo Immortal is governed by a different contract and will therefore always be available in the country.
“We are extremely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown over the nearly 20 years we’ve brought our games to China”said Mike Ybarra, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment. “We are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to gamers in the future”He promised.
Source : Activision Blizzard
