Chinese gamers are banned from Blizzard games such as 'Overwatch' and 'WoW' due to Chinese company refusing to extend license agreement
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From January 23, 2023, popular Blizzard Entertainment titles such as Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft (WoW), and Diablo will no longer be playable in China. In November 2022, it was announced that the license agreement between Blizzard Entertainment and Chinese game company NetEase would be terminated in January 2023, but NetEase refused to extend the contract, leading to Chinese players Game service stop has become decisive.
Blizzard China Update - Extension Denied, NetEase Dissolves Blizzard Team - Wowhead News
https://www.wowhead.com/news/blizzard-china-update-extension-denied-netease-dissolves-blizzard-team-331010
NetEase Response to Blizzard Entertainment - Local Orc Statue Torn Down - Wowhead News
https://www.wowhead.com/news/netease-response-to-blizzard-entertainment-local-orc-statue-torn-down-331041
World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, and more Blizzard games go offline in China - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/23/23567868/activision-blizzard-china-netease-world-of-warcraft
In China, NetEase has been publishing Blizzard Entertainment games since 2008, but in November 2022 it suddenly became clear that the contract would not be renewed, so the license in China may end on January 23, 2023. sexuality was increasing. Blizzard Entertainment explains that the negotiations broke down because 'we were unable to agree on our management philosophy and our commitment to our players and employees.'
Blizzard and NetEase are afraid that Chinese people will not be able to play 'Overwatch, Diablo III, Warcraft', etc., and NetEase executives will say 'stupid' - GIGAZINE
After that, Blizzard Entertainment approached NetEase to extend the current contract signed in 2019, but NetEase's refusal prevented Blizzard Entertainment from offering popular games to Chinese players. rice field.
Blizzard Entertainment said on January 17th on Weibo, a Chinese SNS, 'Last week, we hope that everyone will continue to play the game without confusion, and that Blizzard will continue to seek a reasonable and long-term path in the China region. In order to achieve this, we once again asked NetEase to cooperate with us in extending the existing contract for six months based on the terms agreed in 2019. Unfortunately, NetEase did not extend the existing game service contract during the extension negotiations last week. Therefore, we are forced to follow NetEase's proposal, and game services in China must also end on January 23rd. ' I'm here.
However, there seems to have been a misunderstanding in the negotiation of this contract extension, and NetEase said, ``For unknown reasons, Blizzard asked NetEase to renegotiate last week by presenting conditions such as extending the game service for half a year. He revealed that he would continue to negotiate with other partners during the contract extension, and as far as I know, all negotiations between Blizzard and other companies were based on a three-year contract period. Considering the accompanying non-reciprocity, unfairness and other conditions, we were unable to reach an agreement in the end,' he
In addition, NetEase dismantled Blizzard Entertainment's office in China and live-streamed the pattern of destroying the local statue, and at the coffee shop operated by NetEase, there is also a menu called 'Blizzard Green Tea'. Added. In China, green tea is sometimes used as a metaphor for ``a healthy and innocent person who is not actually so.''
Blizzard Entertainment says it will look for new licensing partners in the future, but it's unclear when a new partner will be found, so it's unclear when Chinese players will be able to resume popular games like Overwatch 2.
Blizzard Entertainment spokesperson Joe Christinat told tech news site The Verge, 'We appreciate the passion and creativity of the Chinese player community over the past 20 years. We are working with Tencent. In addition to continuing to work together to deliver Call of Duty Mobile, we are actively in discussions with potential partners to resume our iconic game series and remain strongly committed to mainland Chinese players.' talked.
Blizzard Entertainment, which can no longer offer popular titles in China, is also suffering from another trouble, the defection of Brian Birmingham, one of the lead developers of World of Warcraft Classic. According to Bloomberg reports , Mr. Birmingham was dismissed after protesting against the company's new personnel system, which ``ranks employees and gives a fixed low rating to 5% of employees, making it difficult to get raises and promotions.'' That's what I mean.
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