Blizzard and NetEase have formally announced they have renewed their partnership to bring Blizzard games back to China.
In Blizzard’s official press release, they confirmed that they would be bringing back World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft to China.
They did not, however, mention if Chinese gamers who played these games under the original agreement will get to retain their original game data, or if they have to start over. The dissolution of the original agreement in 2022 came with some enmity, that NetEase had implied that they would not be able to retain that data for those gamers.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer shared this message:
“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”
Blizzard President Johanna Faries had this to say about the deal:
“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.
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.”
Finally, NetEase CEO and Director William Ding gave this statement:
“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.
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.”
As we had reported yesterday, a photo of William and Johanna meeting each other spread online, hinting that this new deal was about to be closed. This deal also comes at a good time for both companies.
Blizzard has already benefited from being acquired by Microsoft, with Xbox emerging as Diablo IV’s biggest platform, following that game being added to Game Pass. Subsequently, NetEase had just announced their third collaboration with Marvel Games, the upcoming superhero six vs six shooter/action game, Marvel Rivals.
Obviously, NetEase is going to have to work with Microsoft Gaming and Blizzard to launch Diablo IV in China, as their next big new title in the region. With Blizzard still working on making the title a viable live service game, maybe it will be the feedback from live service-hungry China that will help Blizzard’s developers navigate their way to that goal.
