Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Renew Partnership

[Lumy]

Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase Renew Partnership

Blizzard titles to return to mainland China beginning summer 2024

Microsoft Gaming and NetEase deepen their relationship, with a strategic partnership based on their shared desire to bring new gaming experiences to players across platforms and markets

IRVINE, Calif., REDMOND, Wash., AND HANGZHOU, Zhejiang [April 9 PT, April 10 CT] / -- Beloved video game titles from Blizzard Entertainment that captivated millions of players in China will return to the market sequentially, beginning this summer, under a renewed publishing deal Blizzard Entertainment, Microsoft Gaming, and NetEase (NASDAQ: NTES and HKEX: 9999) announced today.

After continuing discussions over the past year, both Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase are thrilled to align on a path forward to once again support players in mainland China and are proud to reaffirm their commitment to delivering exceptional gaming experiences.

The renewed publishing agreement will encompass games Chinese players had access to under the previous agreement: World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, and other titles in the Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Diablo®, and StarCraft® universes. Building upon more than 15 years of past collaboration, Blizzard and NetEase are working diligently on relaunch plans, with further details to be shared at a later date.

Separately, Microsoft Gaming and NetEase have also entered into an agreement to explore bringing new NetEase titles to Xbox consoles and other platforms.

“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,” said Johanna Faries, President of Blizzard Entertainment. “We are immensely grateful for the passion the Chinese community has shown for Blizzard games throughout the years, and we are focused on bringing our universes back to players with excellence and dedication.”

“Celebrating our collaborations, we are thrilled to embark on the next chapter, built on trust and mutual respect, to serve our users in this unique community that we’ve built together.” said William Ding, Chief Executive Officer and Director, NetEase. “Our commitment to providing more exhilarating and creative entertainment experience remains unwavering, and we are excited to see positive synergies fostered to encourage and empower collaborations to bring the joy of gaming to a broad community.”

“Blizzard and NetEase have done incredible work to renew our commitment to players – Blizzard’s universes have been part of players’ lives in the region for many years. Returning Blizzard’s legendary games to players in China while exploring ways to bring more new titles to Xbox demonstrates our commitment to bringing more games to more players around the world,” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

[Djuntas]

Back to pandering for China. At least that was something Blizzard did not haft to dig a grave on...until now.

Im suprised money talks that loud anyway with how China treated Blizzard...

[Aggressive]

I wonder what new titles for Xbox and platforms. Would be a super nice edition to have wow running on Xbox. Will just ha e to sit back and wait to see the future news on this one.

[Loveliest]

Back to pandering for China. At least that was something Blizzard did not haft to dig a grave on...until now.

Im suprised money talks that loud anyway with how China treated Blizzard...

What would be more important than money?

[deenman]

Back to pandering for China. At least that was something Blizzard did not haft to dig a grave on...until now.

Im suprised money talks that loud anyway with how China treated Blizzard...

good,the last time they ''pandered'' to china we got mop,more like that yes please

also being surprised a for profit company cares about money is a hot take

[jla]

Why no pandaria mythic challenge modes?

[sensei]

Back to pandering for China. At least that was something Blizzard did not haft to dig a grave on...until now.

Im suprised money talks that loud anyway with how China treated Blizzard...

/shrug Nothing surprising really. Microsoft didn't drop $69 Billion on Activision to not try and squeeze every cent out of their IPs. Especially when you take into consideration that apparently the only reason the deal originally fell apart is because Bobby Kotick was too overemotional and greedy.

[Daedius]

Hail CCP!

[Tupolew519]

That's a very good news.