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+--- Thread: China Loses Access to Blizzard Games (/Thread-China-Loses-Access-to-Blizzard-Games)
China Loses Access to Blizzard Games - Oni - 01-17-2023
China differs from other countries in that it controls the population's media consumption. Firms like Netease are in charge of ensuring games/apps are consistent with party values and laws. Blizzard originally had a 14 year deal with Netease, to allow for localization of games like World of Warcraft. Since this partnership has ended without renewal, China will likely lose access to multiple Blizzard titles.
Quote:Today, NetEase has disbanded the local team that works on several Blizzard titles that were licensed from Blizzard Entertainment, according to a recent report by the South China Morning Post. This happened as the 14-year-long deal that both companies had was not renewed and will expire on January 23 of this year.
Once the deal falls through, several Blizzard titles will suspend their online service in China, including the following titles:
- Overwatch
- Hearthstone
- World of Warcraft
- Diablo
- StarCraft
- Heroes of the Storm
Read More: https://wccftech.com/netease-blizzard-team-dissolved-after-14-year-deal-falls-through/
RE: China Loses Access to Blizzard Games - Oni - 01-31-2023
Looks like Blizzard pulled the plug on the servers:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/tech/blizzard-games-china-shutdown-intl-hnk/index.html
Feel bad for any Chinese players that stuck with the game 15+ years. There's the possibility of Blizzard partnering with someone other than Netease, so hopefully they retained player data.