One of the most well-known video gaming companies in China, NetEase, has announced that popular games like World of Warcraft will be returning to the country this summer. Due to a disagreement on the ownership of intellectual property, the 14-year partnership between NetEase and Activision Blizzard, a game developer, was terminated in the previous year.
Outrage was caused by the breakdown, with millions of internet users in China expressing their dissatisfaction with the fact that they would no longer have access to their preferred games. It is necessary for any game to have a local publisher and obtain licenses from the Chinese government in order to function in China.
As a result of the earlier disagreement, which eventually turned into an open conflict, the two corporations filed lawsuits against one another. But the tension subsided once Microsoft completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in October of last year for a total of $69 billion (£54 billion), which was the largest transaction ever made in the gaming business.
According to a statement released by Johanna Faries, president of Blizzard Entertainment, “We are extremely grateful for the passion that the Chinese community has shown for Blizzard games over the course of the years.” “We are focused on bringing our universes back to players with excellence and dedication.”
The Hearthstone, Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft brands are among the other titles developed by Blizzard that will be brought back to China. The domestic income of China’s online gaming industry increased by 13% to 303 billion yuan ($42 billion; £33) by the end of the previous year, making it the largest online gaming market in the world.
When it comes to revenue, NetEase is the second-largest video game company in the country, behind only Tencent. Additionally, Microsoft and NetEase have announced that they have reached an agreement to investigate the possibility of delivering new NetEase games to several gaming platforms, including Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles.
According to Phil Spencer, the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming, “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.”
In addition, the lucrative industry has been involved in numerous encounters with the police. For the first time, Beijing took action against the gaming industry in 2021, when it issued a regulation that internet gamers under the age of 18 would be restricted to playing for a maximum of one hour on Fridays, weekends, and holidays.
The authorities announced more limits to limit in-game purchases before the end of the previous year; however, it appears that China has reversed its position on stringent rules to prevent what the regulator referred to as “obsessive” gaming after the announcement.