US gaming giant Blizzard Entertainment will suspend most of its services in
China from January, the company said Thursday, after it failed to reach a licensing
deal with local firm Netease.
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Producer of some of the best-known titles in gaming, including "World
of Warcraft" and "Overwatch", Blizzard has operated in China
since 2008.
But the firm said it had failed to reach an agreement with Chinese publisher
Netease over an extension to their 14-year licensing agreement.
"Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it will be
suspending most Blizzard game services in mainland China," Blizzard
Entertainment, a subsidiary of California-based Activision Blizzard, said in a
statement.
"We will suspend new sales in the coming days and Chinese players will
be receiving details of how this will work soon," it added.
Negotiations fell apart, it said, after the two sides failed to strike a
deal that is "consistent with Blizzard's operating principles and
commitments to players and employees". It did not share further details.
Upcoming releases for "World of Warcraft: Dragonflight",
"Hearthstone: March of the Lich King", and season two of
"Overwatch 2" will go ahead later this year, it added.
The company later said in a statement on its Chinese-language Weibo social
media account that the Chinese servers would stop operations at midnight on
January 24.
Blizzard thanked local players for their "love and support", saying
it "sincerely looked forward to bringing Blizzard games back to you in the
future".
Netease's Hong Kong-listed shares fell more than 10 percent in the morning
Thursday.
The gaming giant, which is expected to release its third-quarter earnings
later in the day, said the expiration of the licenses would have "no
material impact on NetEase's financial results", in a stock exchange
filing Thursday.
China -- the world's biggest market for online games -- contributed at least
three percent of the US firm's net revenue in 2021, according to company
records.
The Chinese government has cracked down on the industry in recent years,
warning children are spending too much time playing online games and hitting
players with new age and playing-time restrictions. Approval of new titles has
also slowed.
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