World Of Warcraft Among China’s Top Offline Games – Forcing Millions Of Players To Say Goodbye | Science and technology news

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One of the most influential online games in history, World Of Warcraft is now offline in China.

Millions of gamers will be forced to bid an emotional farewell to their fictional characters as a very public spat between developer Blizzard and publisher NetEase ends a 14-year deal.

Warcraft, first released in North America in 2004, was initially granted permission to release it in the notoriously restricted Chinese game market in 2005.

Since 2008, Blizzard’s massively multiplayer game servers in China have been managed by NetEase, which also runs custom versions of some other popular Western games such as Minecraft.

Blizzard – owned by Activision Blizzard, gaming giant Microsoft is trying to buy into a record $69bn (£56bn) takeover – first announced that its deal with NetEase would expire last November.

It affects not only Warcraft, which has an estimated three million players in China, but other Blizzard hits like multiplayer shooter Overwatch, card game Hearthstone, and sci-fi strategy title Starcraft.

Image: Overwatch is also offline in China. Pic: Activision Blizzard

Ugly dispute goes public

NetEase’s head of global investment, Simon Chu, said he spent “10,000 hours” playing these games in a damning statement about the breakup.

“One day, when what happened behind the scenes can be told, developers and gamers will have a whole new level of understanding of just how damaging a jerk can be,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

NetEase rejected an offer earlier this month to extend the agreement by six months, calling the proposal “commercially inconsequential” and accusing Blizzard of “seeking a divorce but still being attached.”

Citing a person close to Blizzard, the Reuters news agency reported that the dispute is due to NetEase wanting structural changes that would affect the US company’s control of its intellectual property rights.

NetEase insisted that “any use and licensing of Blizzard’s IP address was made in accordance with the terms of the contract and with the consent and approval of Blizzard” throughout the 14-year agreement.

The companies had previously renewed their initial 2008 deal in 2019.

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Image: Activision Blizzard is based in California

Players are invited to put figures on the ice

Before the deal expires on Monday, Blizzard took the unusual step of allowing its Chinese Warcraft players to download their characters and progression that for some will span thousands upon thousands of hours.

Their data will be able to be uploaded back into the game if Blizzard finds a new distribution partner in China, which remains one of the most lucrative markets in the world despite government restrictions.

NetEase’s rise to become China’s second-largest gaming company was largely fueled by its partnership with Blizzard, but its own titles now account for more than 60% of its revenue.

The country’s industry leader is Tencent, which – in addition to making its own games – owns American gaming giant Riot, the company behind League Of Legends; It owns stakes in major Western developers such as Fortnite maker Epic and Assassin’s Creed creators Ubisoft.

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