Microsoft & NetEase Have Buried The Hatchet To Re-Launch Warcraft Game In China
Microsoft and NetEase have announced a partnership to explore the possibility of introducing new NetEase games to Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles and other gaming platforms it supports.
NetEase, a major player in the Chinese video game industry, has announced a collaboration with Microsoft to reintroduce popular games like "World of Warcraft" to China. This comes after a public dispute that led to the termination of their decade-long partnership in 2023. In a joint press release on Wednesday, the two companies stated their efforts to bring back games from Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of US gaming giant Activision Blizzard recently acquired by Microsoft, to the second-largest gaming market in the world. NetEase had been the publisher of Blizzard's games in China from 2008 until 2023.
The president of Blizzard Entertainment, Johanna Faries, said, "We at Blizzard are thrilled to reestablish our partnership with NetEase and to work together, with deep appreciation for the collaboration between our teams, to deliver legendary gaming experiences to players in China," reported Reuters.
Furthermore, Microsoft and NetEase have announced a partnership to explore the possibility of introducing new NetEase games to Microsoft's Xbox gaming consoles and other gaming platforms it supports.
Last year, several well-known online games from Blizzard were removed from Chinese servers following the termination of their profitable 14-year collaboration with NetEase. This split was due to disagreements over intellectual property management. The situation escalated into a public dispute, leading to legal actions between the two companies. However, tensions began to ease after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October, which was accompanied by changes in the leadership of the acquired company.
NetEase & Microsoft's Efforts To Reconcile
Last year, local Chinese media reported on efforts by NetEase and Microsoft to reconcile and reintroduce the games in China. The departure of Blizzard games garnered significant attention due to their immense popularity in the country. According to Chinese media, "World of Warcraft" alone had amassed five million Chinese players by 2009 after NetEase took over publishing duties. The recent press release highlighted that the renewed publishing agreement encompasses Blizzard's flagship games like "World of Warcraft" and "Hearthstone," along with other titles from franchises such as "Warcraft," "Overwatch," "Diablo," and "StarCraft."
The earlier separation led to widespread dissatisfaction, with millions of Chinese internet users expressing concerns online about losing access to their beloved games. In February 2023, before the games were removed, NetEase's customer service reported over a million requests from Chinese gamers for refunds related to unused services in Blizzard's games. NetEase ranks as China's second-largest video game company in terms of revenue, following Tencent.
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