Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, April 25, CTOnews.com, due to the expiration of the licensing agreement with NetEase, the series of products of "World of Warcraft", "hearth Stone", "Watcher Vanguard", "Diablo III", "Warcraft III: remake", "Storm Hero" and "StarCraft" operated by Shanghai NetZhiyi Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. in Chinese mainland area have ceased operation on January 24, 2023.

According to 36 Krypton reports, recently, Shanghai net easy Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as: net easy) filed a lawsuit in Shanghai against Blizzard Entertainment Co., Ltd. in violation of a series of license agreements, demanding a refund of 300 million yuan, including refunds related to suspended games such as World of Warcraft, prepaid payments for unsold game goods inventory, and advance deposits for several undeveloped games.

In response, Blizzard responded, "Blizzard has not received the relevant complaint, but we believe that we have not violated any authorization agreement." The terms of the contract, which NetEase is suspected of dissatisfied with, involve standard industry practices and have been mutually beneficial to both sides over the years. Although these continuous behaviors make us feel disappointed and confused, it should be pointed out that the course of operation in China for nearly 20 years has been very positive and pleasant, and we will continue to serve local players and protect their rights and interests. "

Blizzard-related sources also told thepaper.cn that they did not think that the refund received by players was paid unilaterally by NetEase.

According to CTOnews.com, the cooperation between NetEase and Blizzard began in 2009 and lasted for 13 years. During this period, Netezhiyi has represented a number of Blizzard games such as World of Warcraft. But with the recession of Blizzard in the global gaming market and Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, there has been a rift in the cooperation between the two sides. Earlier, the New York Times reported that during the contract renewal negotiations between Activision Blizzard and NetEase, Blizzard asked NetEase to pay an one-time price of 500m US dollars to renew his contract. There are also media reports that Blizzard requires partners to develop Blizzard mobile games and distribute them around the world, but they can only enjoy a share in China and have to pay a huge deposit as a guarantee, otherwise they will be "punished".

On January 17, 2023, Blizzard national service was suspended, and the cooperation relationship between Blizzard and Blizzard was terminated. At present, Blizzard is still looking for new national service agents, but there are no clear results. On the other hand, NetEase turned to self-development of PC games and games from other manufacturers such as Microsoft.

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