NetEase says it does not expect to launch any new video games with overseas studios until at least 2025 after Blizzard break-up
- NetEase’s investment in studios outside China is unlikely to generate any ‘positive surprises’ for revenue in the coming two or three years
- Company wants to increase the share of overseas revenue to between 40 and 50 per cent of total, although no timeframe has been specified
A senior NetEase executive has said the video games company will not be releasing any games with overseas studios until at least 2025, following its protracted break-up with US outfit Blizzard Entertainment.
Charles Yang Zhaoxuan, chief financial officer of China’s second-biggest video games firm, said in an earnings call on Thursday that while it is still investing in overseas studios, it will be 2025 at the earliest before any overseas game is ready for the market.
As such, the company’s profit will remain “relatively stable” in the next two to three years until its investment in overseas studios is able to generate any “positive surprises” for revenue, said Yang.
The Hangzhou-based company significantly stepped up overseas investment as it grappled with a regulatory crackdown in the domestic market that saw video game sales slump over 10 per cent in 2022, marking the first drop in at least two decades. The government has this year signalled an easing of policy, with an increase in new game licence approvals.
China’s stricter controls over video gaming, which now treats game titles just as movies or new TV shows in terms of censorship, makes it hard for overseas gaming studios to crack the world’s largest mobile gaming market.