Blizzard PC Titles Will Return To China Under New Deal With NetEase

In 2022, Blizzard declined to renew a partnership with NetEase that brought PC titles to mainland China, resulting in most of Blizzard's games being taken offline in that market. Now, with Microsoft's involvement as Activision-Blizzard's new parent company, the deal with NetEase has been re-established, and Blizzard's games will be brought back to China.

The initial break between Blizzard and NetEase appeared messy on both sides, with statements from both companies laying blame on the other. The move was also a major contributor to Overwatch 2 being review bombed, with many of the negative reviews coming from annoyed Chinese players.

It was expected that Blizzard was looking for an alternative partner for distribution in the Chinese market, but it has now landed back with NetEase, with parent company Microsoft also signing the agreement.

"After continuing discussions over the past year, both Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase are thrilled to align on a path forward to once again support players in mainland China and are proud to reaffirm their commitment to delivering exceptional gaming experiences," the statement from Blizzard says.

The new deal will encompass games including "World of Warcraft, Hearthstone,and other titles in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft universes." The relaunch won't be instantaneous, but the statement says Blizzard and NetEase are "working diligently on relaunch plans, with further details to be shared at a later date."

Microsoft also revealed it has entered into a seperate agreement with NetEase to explore bringing its games to Xbox and other platforms. "Returning Blizzard’s legendary games to players in China while exploring ways to bring more new titles to Xbox demonstrates our commitment to bringing more games to more players around the world," said Xbox CEO Phil Spencer.