Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase to renew partnership this week, bringing games like World of Warcraft back to China

The US gaming giant behind the popular Warcraft and Diablo series and long-time partner NetEase are expected to announce a new deal on Wednesday
Blizzard’s online games have been absent from China for more than a year after a 14-year partnership fell apart amid accusations of unfair practices

Video gaming

Ann Caoin ShanghaiandCoco Fengin Beijing

Published: 9:00pm, 9 Apr 2024

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Blizzard Entertainment, the video game giant behind of World of Warcraft, and long-time Chinese partner NetEase are expected to announce a new deal this week that will allow for a highly anticipated comeback to the country.

The two companies are expected to announce on Wednesday that they have reached a new agreement for the distribution of Blizzard titles in China, according to a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named, confirming local media reports. However, it could take at least another month for Blizzard games to finally return to the domestic market after the new partnership is announced, the person added.

US tech giant Microsoft, which acquired Activision Blizzard, parent of Blizzard Entertainment, for US$69 billion last year, has been playing a positive and active role in the negotiation process with NetEase since talks started late last year, according to the source.

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Chinese news portal Sina.com first reported on Tuesday that the pair will make their renewed partnership public on Wednesday, citing confirmation from NetEase. Lanjinger, another Chinese news publication, also confirmed the timeline and added that the local servers might be open to gamers this summer.

Neither NetEase nor Blizzard responded to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The revival of Blizzard’s partnership with NetEase would let one of the largest game developers return to the world’s largest video gaming market by revenue, after an absence of more than a year.

The developer of the hit Warcraft and Diablo series suspended services in China in January 2023 after its 14-year partnership with NetEase expired. The two companies failed to agree to new terms to extend the partnership.

Blizzard said a week before the expiration that NetEase had rejected its proposal for a six-month extension. NetEase, which had been running World of Warcraft in China in 2009, described the offer as unfair.

In addition to the withdrawal of World of Warcraft last year, Blizzard also had to discontinue support for other popular titles in the country such as Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft and Diablo III.

A college student plays the online game World of Warcraft in his dormitory room in southwestern China’s Chongqing city on October 12, 2009. Photo: AP

After the fallout, NetEase filed multiple lawsuits against Blizzard. In one suit filed last April, NetEase demanded US$45 million as compensation for costs that included refunds it had to pay to affected gamers.

Blizzard responded with two countersuits in June, alleging intellectual property infringement and unfair competition, after the Chinese firm’s game Justice launched an initiative to woo World of Warcraft fans, according to a report by Chinese media Yicai.

The two companies later dropped all the lawsuits.

China’s strict video gaming regulations require that foreign titles only be published via local distributors to ensure they have proper licensing – a process that often involves sanitisation to appease censors. The National Press and Publication Administration on Monday published the second batch of approved imported games for 2024, bringing the total for the year to 46 titles.