(Shanghai) World of Warcraft and other successful video games like Overwatch 2 will return to China this summer, their American developer and its local partner announced on Wednesday, more than a year after their withdrawal due to a dispute.
The video game development and publishing company Blizzard and the Chinese sector juggernaut Netease announced in a press release that they had reached a new agreement.
“Blizzard Entertainment’s beloved video games, which have captivated millions of gamers in China, will return to the market […] starting this summer,” they said.
Hearthstone and other franchise titles World of Warcraft (often abbreviated to WoW) Or Overwatch will also return to the Chinese market, they added.
Chinese Internet users rejoiced at the return of the Californian developer’s games.
On the social network Weibo, “Blizzard announces its return” or even “NetEase and Blizzard are remarrying” appear at the top of search trends on Wednesday.
“Today, our old friend […] is making a comeback, our favorite game is coming back,” writes the video game specialist Scarlet Bunny.
“Come back to life, my beloved! », enthuses another user.
Chinese servers WoW and other games were deactivated in January 2023, sparking a wave of anger and sadness among their followers.
Immensely popular around the world, especially in the 2000s, World of Warcraft is a multiplayer online role-playing game set in a medieval fantasy world.
“A great decision”
Blizzard began bringing its games to China in 2008 through a collaboration with NetEase, with foreign developers required to partner with a local partner to enter the Chinese market.
But the two companies announced in November 2022, after 14 years of cooperation, that discussions to renew the operating contracts had not been successful.
“After continuing discussions over the past year, Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase are pleased to align on a path forward to once again support players in mainland China,” the two companies said in their statement.
“The fact that Blizzard and Netease are collaborating again is a great decision,” Tian Yiran, 21, who works in Beijing organizing exhibitions, told AFP.
“From Blizzard’s point of view, China is a market that the company obviously could not ignore,” explains the young man, who notably played Starcraft 2 before the suspension of the servers and is “impatient” to be able to play it again.
Same enthusiasm from Fu Tianze, a 28-year-old Beijinger who works in real estate and is a fan ofOverwatch.
“At the time I was super disappointed that Blizzard was leaving the Chinese market. I am an adult, so I had accepted this state of affairs,” he explains to AFP.
“But we were all waiting to know who Blizzard was going to cooperate with to return to China. The fact that it’s Netease again will make things easier. I’m excited to have my account back soon! »
Restrictions
News of the return is a welcome boost for NetEase, which, like many Chinese tech giants, has had a tough few years due to government policy targeting the video games sector.
As of 2021, under-18s are only allowed to play online between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays during term time.
Additionally, players are required to use their ID card when registering to play online, to ensure that minors do not lie about their age.
Companies are also prohibited from offering online gaming services to young people outside of hours set by the government.
The end of the freeze on gaming licenses had given rise to hope that the restrictions on this sector had eased.
But in December, proposed guidelines aimed at limiting in-game purchases through microtransactions and preventing obsessive behavior sent shares of NetEase and its rivals tumbling.
Authorities reversed course a day later, announcing the rules would be revised, but giving no details.