Activision Blizzard Says NetEase Declined an Offer to Extend Publishing Deal in China
Activision Blizzard, publisher of Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft, has claimed that NetEase turned down an offer to extend its publishing deal in China.
As reported by Reuters, Blizzard China made a statement on Weibo and contacted NetEase in early January to extend the contract for six months, allowing domestic gamers to buy Overwatch 2, Hearthstone and other Blizzard titles. It claims to have made an offer to allow it to continue playing. .
According to Blizzard China, NetEase turned down the offer, meaning the retirement of these game services will take place on January 23rd as planned.
“It is unfortunate that NetEase is unwilling to extend the game’s service for another six months under the existing terms, as they are looking for new partners,” said Blizzard China.
The company claimed in November that it was looking for other ways to bring the game to China, but didn’t provide any specific information on how to do so.
Therefore, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch 2, StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm will all be unplayable as of January 23rd. Therefore, it is not affected at this time.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and UK news editor. He talks about witchers all day long.
