Blizzard Entertainment has just announced an extension in their partnership with Chinese giant NetEase, this partnership started 11 years ago and has been very prolific for both parties.
The publishing agreement between the two companies, which encompasses World of Warcraft, the StarCraft series, the Diablo series, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch, will extend until January 2023.
The collaboration between Blizzard and NetEase began in 2008, with a licensing agreement to bring StarCraft II and the Blizzard Battle.net platform to China. Since then, the companies have worked together to bring Blizzard’s epic game experiences to Chinese players.
“NetEase has been instrumental in helping us bring Blizzard’s epic games to even more players around the world, and we’re grateful to have such a strong partner in China,” said J. Allen Brack, President of Blizzard Entertainment. “We look forward to continuing our relationship and cooperation in China and beyond.”
“We’re pleased to continue our successful partnership with Blizzard after more than a decade of close cooperation,” added William Ding, founder and CEO of NetEase. “The scope of our collaboration is now deeper and broader than ever before. We’re confident that together we will continue to bring even more exciting game experiences to players worldwide.”
NetEase is currently working with Blizzard to bring mobile title Diablo Immortal to China. The team promises it will be a “living, breathing, and constantly evolving” addition to the MMO franchise. However, despite promises of new character classes and storylines, a number of fans are upset and angry that Blizzard closed BlizzCon on this announcement when the community had been very much expecting either confirmation of a remaster, or a peek at Diablo 4.
NetEase is a leading internet technology company in China dedicated to providing online services centered around content, community, communication and commerce. NetEase develops and operates some of China’s most popular PC-client and mobile games, and partners with Blizzard Entertainment, Mojang AB (a Microsoft subsidiary) and other global game developers to operate some of the most popular international online games in China.
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