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 is preparing to return to the Chinese video games market in the coming weeks after renewing partnership with NetEase, according to local media report.

China grants licences to more than 100 new domestic titles, giving the industry another confidence boost after a video-game-related stock rout in December.

The Shenzhen-based internet giant must find new lifelines in its video gaming and social media operations, Ma told employees at the firm’s annual meeting.

The 115 video game approvals tops the 105 approved in December as Beijing seeks to signal support for the industry after scrapping controversial new rules.

The newly formed working group is tasked with building, maintaining and promoting metaverse industry standards, China’s technology regulator says.

Althiough 2023 ended with a market rout, many analysts expect more overseas opportunities for Chinese video game developers in 2024, helped by quality titles.

TechInsights expects HarmonyOS to take share from both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS in China in 2024, driven by Huawei’s return to 5G smartphone segment.

Top official’s departure comes as Beijing attempts to limit the damage from draft rules aimed at reining back spending on video games, which sparked a market rout.

Baidu says its bid to buy Joyy’s YY Live has expired three years after it was unveiled because regulators did not approve the transaction.

After the partnership fell apart in January, Blizzard sought to work with other Chinese companies before renewing with NetEase, Chinese media reported.

Beijing’s December batch of game approvals is the most since July 2022, in a positive signal to the industry after draft rules tightening user spending.

Beijing is moving to curb excessive spending on video games across the country, according to a new draft regulation, dealing another blow to the world’s largest video gaming market after a lengthy government crackdown.

China’s video game industry saw double-digit growth this year after a small decline in 2022, but overseas revenue fell as fierce competition and changes in privacy policies increased operating costs abroad.

China’s top video game studios bragged at an industry gathering about including Chinese cultural elements and ‘patriotic spirit’ in their titles.

China’s Big Tech landscape continues to undergo seismic shifts, with video gaming and news portal NetEase overtaking food delivery giant Meituan as the country’s fourth most valuable listed technology company.

The strategic cooperation between Ant and Huawei underscores the growing momentum of HarmonyOS’ adoption in the world’s biggest e-commerce and smartphone market.

McDonald’s China unit is part of the first batch of multinational food companies on the mainland that have committed to build apps based on Huawei’s self-developed HarmonyOS mobile platform.

Tencent-backed Ubisoft, NetEase, Perfect World, Lilith Games and Hypergryph lead list of major video game publishers with approved titles in November.

The social media giant is cutting hundreds of jobs at its flagship Nuverse studio, and will shut down development on most unlaunched titles a year after cuts at two related studios.

More than 700 million devices currently run on HarmonyOS, with more than 2.2 million third-party developers creating apps for the platform, according to Huawei.

The new regulation that takes effect next year is not expected to have much short-term impact, but user habits may shift over time.

The change in leadership at miHoYo comes at a time when the Shanghai-based firm has become the main challenger to Tencent Holdings and NetEase in the world’s largest video gaming market.

Tencent and NetEase both have newly approved titles and are banking on foreign games to help lift revenues at home amid an industry slump.

TikTok owner ByteDance said it will shut down a cloud album app it launched nearly eight years ago, leaving users rushing to download years of photos and videos.

Chinese cities from Beijing to Hangzhou have inked cooperation deals with internet giants, as the country’s top leaders signal an end to two years of tech crackdowns.

‘China’s gaming industry is gradually getting out of the trough and showing an upward trend’ says China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association.

Latest approvals signal that Beijing is now focused on supporting the industry, especially smaller studios which are also struggling with economic headwinds.