Blizzard games will not be released in China. Chinese and Chinese players, one of the firm’s largest markets, will not be able to access World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Diablo 3, Starcraft and Heroes of the Storm games as of January 23, 2023. The reason for this is that Blizzard has not been able to agree with NetEase, the publisher with which it has been collaborating since 2008.
Blizzard games will not be released in China
Blizzard Entertainment used the following statements in its statement on the subject;
“We have not renewed the agreement because an agreement could not be reached between the parties according to criteria that matched Blizzard’s operating principles and the satisfaction of its players.”
On the NetEase side, CEO William Ding made the following statement;
“We made a great deal with Activision Blizzard to bring the games to our players in China, and we tried to be as sincere as possible. However, we could not reach agreement on key issues.”
The sale of Blizzard games will be stopped in China in the coming period. However, the second season of the previously scheduled World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King and Overwatch 2 will come out as planned. It is unclear whether the updates to these games will be implemented in China. However, let’s say that Diablo Immortal, one of the most important sources of Blizzard, will continue smoothly in China. Because the co-producer of the game is Chinese giant Tencent and the game is tied to a different licensing agreement.