Written by Josh Yeh
The two companies said in a press release Wednesday that they are working to bring games developed by Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of U.S. gaming giant Activision Blizzard that Microsoft acquired last year, back to the world's second-largest economy starting this summer. NetEase was the publisher of Blizzard games in China from 2008 until 2023.
“We at Blizzard are excited to re-establish our partnership with NetEase and work together to bring a legendary gaming experience to players in China, with deep appreciation for the collaboration between our teams,” said Blizzard Entertainment. said Johanna Fairies, president of.
Additionally, Microsoft and NetEase said they have also signed an agreement to explore bringing new NetEase titles to Microsoft's Xbox game console and other gaming platforms.
Many popular online games developed by Blizzard went offline in China last year after the company ended a lucrative 14-year partnership with NetEase over disagreements over intellectual property management. Ta.
The incident escalated into a public dispute, with both companies filing lawsuits against each other. Tensions eased with Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October and subsequent changes in Activision Blizzard's management.
Local media in China reported late last year that NetEase and Microsoft were looking for ways to patch things up and restart the game in China.
Blizzard's game was highly popular in China, so Blizzard's withdrawal from the game drew attention. According to Chinese media, World of Warcraft alone had 5 million Chinese gamers in 2009, when NetEase became the publisher.
Wednesday's press release said the new publishing deal covers Blizzard's flagship games “World of Warcraft” and “Hearthstone,” as well as the “Warcraft,” “Overwatch,” “Diablo” and “StarCraft” franchises. It has been revealed that the title is also targeted.
The initial breakup sparked protests, with millions of Chinese netizens complaining online that they would no longer be able to access their favorite games.
In February 2023, before the games went offline, more than 1 million Chinese gamers requested refunds for unused services on Blizzard games, NetEase customer service said at the time.
Netease is China's second-largest video game company by revenue after Tencent 0700.HK.
(Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Christopher Cushing)