Blizzard is pulling some of its games from China due to contractual disagreement with NetEase

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that it will suspend most of Blizzard’s gaming services in mainland China due to the expiration of current license agreements with NetEase.

Coming on January 23, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft 3: Reforged, Overwatch, the StarCraft series, Diablo 3, and Heroes of the Storm.

Blizzard and NetEase have had a license agreement since 2008, which covers the publication of Blizzard titles in China.

The reason the two companies are parting ways is because the two may come to an agreement to renew agreements “that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees.”

Blizzard said it will suspend new sales of its games in the coming days and Chinese gamers will receive details of how this will work soon.

“We are immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown over the nearly 20 years we have brought our games to China through NetEase and other partners,” said Blizzard President Mike Ybarra. in a public statement. “Your enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for ways to make our games available to players again in the future.”

For its part, NetEase said in a statement that it is “deeply disappointed” that the respective organizations have not been able to reach “a renewed contractual agreement.”

“We have been doing everything we can to negotiate with Blizzard, doing everything we can to maintain the relationship so that we can continue to bring these games to our gaming community,” the company said in a public relations email.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement with Blizzard on some key terms of cooperation. We regret that Blizzard announced today that it will stop cooperating and we will have to accept this decision.”

NetEase Chairman Simon Zhu also expressed his disappointment in a LinkedIn post and went so far as to affirm that some “idiot” could have been the cause of everything.

“As a player who spent ten thousand hours in the world of Azeroth, Starcraft, and Overwatch, I feel so heartbroken that I will no longer have access to my account and memories next year,” said Zhu (thank you, RPS).

“One day, when what happened behind the scenes can be told, developers and players will have a whole new level of understanding of how much damage a jerk can do. I feel terrible for the players who lived in those worlds.”

While the two companies remain at odds over publishing agreements, Blizzard stated that since Diablo Immortal’s joint development and publishing is covered by a separate agreement between the two companies, it will continue to be available in the region.

He also stated that upcoming releases of World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and Overwatch 2 Season 2 “will continue later this year.”