Game news 2 million players in just 2 days! Blizzard and Microsoft made a great decision
It’s the move of the year for Blizzard and Microsoft! The return of this game to China will bring a smile to the two American giants. World of Warcraft hasn’t even been released yet and millions of players have already pre-registered.
World of Warcraft: The triumphant return of Blizzard and Microsoft to China
After tensions between Blizzard and NetEase (one of the largest Chinese publishers), the two companies put their resentment aside to the triumphant return of World of Warcraft to China, after an absence of one and a half. His return is set for summer 2024.
Blizzard Entertainment’s beloved video games, which have captivated millions of gamers in China, will return to the market […] starting this summer – Blizzard and NetEase
This agreement was concluded following the acquisition of the Chinese company by Microsoft, in May 2023. This new era of collaboration generated great enthusiasm among Asian gamers, and resulted in 2 million pre-registrations in 2 days on the famous MMO.
As reported by account X (Twitter) NasDain addition to the 2 million pre-registrations, more than 90,000 accounts have been recovered and nearly 147,000 accounts have been reactivated. The return of the American company to China will also allow the creation of new jobs with, already, more than 1000 CVs sent to the “joint venture” of Blizzard and NetEase.
World of Warcraft is not the only game to make a comeback in China: the entire Activision Blizzard catalog is making a comeback this summer. There are games such as Overwatch 2, Diablo 3 and Heroes of the Storm. NetEase can breathe after difficult years due to government restrictions.
Blizzard and NetEase: After tensions, comes appeasement
For 14 years, NetEase operated Blizzard games on the Chinese market. However, in November 2022, the two companies announced that they were ending their collaboration following the end of negotiations to renew the operating contracts. On January 23, 2023, most Blizzard games became unavailable despite the annoyance of Chinese players.
This break led to accusations from both companies. On the one hand, NetEase claimed to have made financial efforts to renew the contract. On the other hand, the American company states that NetEase was never willing to comply with the renewal of the contract. A sum of 300 million yuan (or approximately 36 million euros) was even claimed by the Chinese company to cover the costs generated by the end of the collaboration.