Blizzard’s longtime Chinese partner NetEase has refused an offer to extend a licensing partnership that keeps games like World of WarCraft online in China, per a report from The Wall Street Journal. Now, Blizzard is in talks with other video game firms, hoping to secure an option that provides Chinese gamers access to its titles.
Microsoft’s attempted merger with Blizzard has left the company in a state of disarray, and amid that drama, the publisher has been working behind the scenes to ensure Chinese gamers don’t lose access to popular titles. Previously, Blizzard had proposed a six-month extension to its partnership with NetEase, which is set to expire next week. Last November, Blizzard said it planned to shut down gaming services to China on January 23rd if NetEase didn’t agree to an extension.
Last week Blizzard President Mike Ybarra met with Chinese executives hoping to secure the extension, however, the offer was rejected. NetEase chief William Ding has said that Blizzard’s partnership terms are unacceptable, leaving the fate of Blizzard’s gaming services in China uncertain. If NetEase doesn’t change its position, Chinese gamers may lose access to Blizzard’s titles and be denied future releases such as the upcoming survival game Blizzard announced last year.
With additional details emerging about Diablo 4, it’s likely games in China are excited to see what Blizzard has in store for 2023. Government regulations tightly control China’s video game sector which saw a 10% market shrink last year, the first decline in several decades. In July 2021 Chinese authorities froze all new video game publication licenses, but began approving foreign title licenses in December 2022.
Blizzard’s 14-year partnership with NetEase gave the US publisher access to the biggest mobile gaming market in the world. Yet, Chinese social media has been consistently critical of Blizzard, spurred by NetEase’s claims that aspects of the partnership failed to benefit Chinese gamers. As NetEase plans to release its own World of WarCraft-style online RPG, Blizzard’s future in China remains uncertain.
Blizzard has announced it will launch a tool for Chinese World of WarCraft players to download their save progress for future use. It appears Blizzard has high hopes that it will find a new Chinese partner, even if its games go offline in China starting next week.