I wonder if this is connected to the Microsoft deal. Comment by grafspe806 on T21:59:40-06:00ĭont fret this will be worked out in time as money speaks above all Comment by Mattsta on T22:08:05-06:00 So China might have been a big market, but another company took a huge chunk of the money before they reached Activision Blizzard. Netease probably took a massive amount of the income generated by Chinese players. Someone smarter than me explain how wow is so huge in china but only counts for 3% of revenue? This disruption was strongly foreshadowed in the recent Activision Blizzard Third Quarter 2022 Financial Results from last week: “Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future.” “We’re immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we’ve been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners,” said Mike Ybarra, president, Blizzard Entertainment. Upcoming releases for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and season 2 of Overwatch 2 will proceed later this year. We will suspend new sales in the coming days and Chinese players will be receiving details of how this will work soon.

The two parties have not reached a deal to renew the agreements that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees, and the agreements are set to expire in January 2023. Diablo Immortal® co-development and publishing is covered under a separate agreement between the two companies.īlizzard Entertainment has had licensing agreements with NetEase since 2008, covering the publication of these Blizzard titles in China. This includes World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Warcraft® III: Reforged, Overwatch®, the StarCraft® series, Diablo III®, and Heroes of the Storm®. announced today that it will be suspending most Blizzard game services in mainland China due to the expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase, Inc.

Diablo immortal reception in china