Blizzard has announced its games will be returning to China under a renewed publishing deal between Microsoft Gaming and NetEase.
After discussions "over the past year", players in China will be able to once again access World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and many other titles across the Blizzard universe including Overwatch, Diablo and StarCraft.
Perhaps most interestingly is the news Microsoft Gaming and NetEase have entered into an agreement to "explore" bringing new NetEase titles to Xbox consoles and other platforms in the future. NetEase is known in recent years for helping Blizzard develop the mobile and PC title Diablo Immortal.
Here's a statement about this from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer:
“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."
NetEase and Blizzard previously went through a rough patch when a licensing deal ended between the two parties at the beginning of 2023. It saw support for multiple Blizzard titles and services end in China and was spurred on by a reported rift between NetEase and Activision.
What do you make of this announcement? Let us know in the comments.
Comments 11
What possible games could we see from netease? I know nothing about this company or what games they've made/published.
@CutchuSlow probably mostly mobile titles for there new mobile app store there working on. I think they also have a new marvel multiplayer title in the works. But mostly to help compete with PlayStation in China I guess. I also guess the Blizzard deal now include Xbox as well as PC/Mobile titles.
@CutchuSlow they also have got 7 studios in Japan. One being Grasshopper.
What about the actiblizz statue that netease employees smashed in rage towards blizzard, bad blood dies quickly I guess, though the whole pr ***** show was comical.
This is what like: reciprocal deals. Launching Call of Duty on Sony's box or Pentiment on Nintendo's gives me nothing as an Xbox user.
China is a big market this will for sure make crazy profit while hopefully reviving overwatch
Great Phil we get more hackers and cheaters now look at the pc with cod
Lots of money incoming.
Don't yalll have phones?
Now do another agreement with Hoyoverse next.
It will be a big deal for Xbox if the new Marvel hero shooter becomes a console exclusive. Not interested myself but it's an IP that sells and is currently only slated for a PC release
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