Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
A couple years ago, NetEase and Activision Blizzard seemed to have had a massive falling out that ended with the latter’s games being delisted in China. That issue seems to have been resolved because the two have announced a new agreement that will bring Activision Blizzard’s games back to the country. NetEase and Activision Blizzard have renewed their agreements and collaboration and NetEase will once again publish Activision Blizzard games like World of Warcraft in China.
This new agreement was shared via a press release from the companies, as reported by Business Wire. The agreement will see Activision Blizzard titles return to availability in China starting in summer 2024. Affected titles that were previously available include World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Overwatch 2, Starcraft 2, and several other games in the Warcraft and Diablo universes. Details on how these games relaunch in China will be coming at a later date. While Microsoft may have been involved, NetEase also entered into a separate agreement with the tech giant to bring NetEase games to Xbox and other Microsoft platforms.
Activision Blizzard and NetEase had a major dispute back in 2022 when Blizzard allowed the licensing agreements on its games in China to expire, forcing services on most of those games to be suspended. Activision Blizzard blamed NetEase entirely for the issue and there were allegations of a lawsuit by NetEase to recoup refunds that had been demanded for the suspension of Activision Blizzard games.
Regardless, it seems those turbulent waters are behind the two companies, likely with a little help from Activision Blizzard’s new owner. As Blizzard’s popular titles return to China, stay tuned for further updates on this story.