Activision Blizzard Says NetEase Declined an Offer to Extend Publishing Deal in China
Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard has claimed NetEase declined an offer to extend its publishing deal in China.
As reported by Reuters, Blizzard China published a statement to Weibo claiming it contacted NetEase earlier in January with an offer to extend their deal by six months, allowing gamers in the country to continue playing the likes of Overwatch 2, Hearthstone, and other Blizzard titles.
NetEase declined the offer according to Blizzard China, however, meaning the discontinuing of these game services will go ahead as planned on January 23.
"It is a pity that NetEase is not willing to extend services of our game for another six months on the basis of existing terms as we look for a new partner," Blizzard China said
The company claimed in November that it was looking for alternative ways to bring its games to China but no concrete information regarding how it might do so has been revealed.
World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch 2, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm will therefore all be unplayable as of January 23. Diablo: Immortal, Blizzard's controversial mobile game, is published under a separate agreement and is therefore unaffected at the moment.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
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