Game news “Millions…” This video game giant signs an agreement for the return of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo IV to China!

Game news “Millions…” This video game giant signs an agreement for the return of World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo IV to China!

More than a year after the discord, Microsoft allows Blizzard to return to the Chinese market

If you follow video game news at all, you couldn’t have missed all the twists and turns linked to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King by Microsoft. Validated here, rejected there, this operation worth nearly 70 billion dollars was finally able to take place. To convince, Microsoft was forced to make concessions, particularly in terms of Cloud Gaming. Regardless, and despite the fact that the FTC continues to fight, Activision Blizzard King (ABK) is now owned by the Xbox division (Microsoft Gaming). This led to a major management reshuffle and the dismissal of 1,900 people.

At the head of the company for three decades, the controversial Bobby Kotick has finally packed his bags, and left the controls to Phil Spencer. It was under the leadership of Bobby Kotick that Blizzard had lost access to the Chinese market, 14 years after signing a distribution agreement with NetEase. The two companies failed to agree on a new contract, leading to the end of distribution and the suspension of servers in January 2023. A heavy loss for ABK, which saw the doors of a huge market close. Since Microsoft has been in charge, discussions with NetEase have been relaunched, the American firm no longer being able to ignore the Chinese market regarding newly acquired licenses (World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Starcraft).

Our legendary worlds are accessible to everyone, including our passionate Chinese community. We are happy to announce a new agreement with NetEase to bring Blizzard games back to mainland China. Thank you for your patience and support.

See Diablo 4 on Amazon

Find the Chinese market, and take advantage of it to strengthen ties

In the press release associated with this post in which a smiling Phil Spencer appears, we learn that millions of players will soon have regain access to titles which they enjoyed until the beginning of last year. The return of titles will take place gradually from this summerfollowing a schedule established as part of the agreement:

After ongoing discussions over the past year, Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase are excited to align on a path forward to once again support players in mainland China and are proud to reaffirm their commitment to delivering exceptional gaming experiences . The renewed publishing deal will encompass games that Chinese players had access to under the previous agreement: World of Warcraft, Hearthstone and other titles from the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo and StarCraft universes. Building on over 15 years of past collaboration, Blizzard and NetEase are working diligently on recovery plans, with more details to be shared later, it reads.

Blizzard and NetEase have done incredible work to renew our commitment to gamers – Blizzard’s universes have been a part of the lives of gamers in the region for many years. Bringing Blizzard’s legendary games back to Chinese players while exploring ways to bring more new titles to Xbox demonstrates our commitment to bringing more games to more players around the world, Phil Spencer added.

Yes, you read correctly. In addition to having reached an agreement allowing the return of Blizzard games, Microsoft has obviously taken the opportunity to lay the first milestones for a closer collaboration with NetEase, which plans to distribute more of its games on Xbox consoles. Finally, let us remember that while underage Chinese players are subject to heavy restrictions in playing video games, adults are among the most consistent players in the world.