Three months ago, a rumor suggested that NetEase was close to inking a new agreement to bring Blizzard games back to mainland China after the complete shutdown that occurred in early 2023.
At last, NetEase, Blizzard, and Microsoft have now officially announced the completion of the deal. Blizzard's beloved games, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, other titles in the Warcraft franchise, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft, will once again be available in China starting this Summer. They won't all be released at once, though - the press release says they'll launch 'sequentially', and we don't know yet which one will be first.
Related Story Microsoft Is Planning A Number Of Demos To Market Snapdragon X Elite As The Faster SoC When Compared To The Apple M3
Interestingly, Microsoft also signed a deal with NetEase to bring new titles of the Chinese publisher to Xbox and 'other platforms'.
Johanna Faries, President of Blizzard Entertainment, stated:
We at Blizzard are thrilled to reestablish our partnership with NetEase and to work together, with deep appreciation for the collaboration between our teams, to deliver legendary gaming experiences to players in China. We are immensely grateful for the passion the Chinese community has shown for Blizzard games throughout the years, and we are focused on bringing our universes back to players with excellence and dedication.
William Ding, Chief Executive Officer and Director at NetEase, added:
Celebrating our collaborations, we are thrilled to embark on the next chapter, built on trust and mutual respect, to serve our users in this unique community that we’ve built together. Our commitment to providing more exhilarating and creative entertainment experience remains unwavering, and we are excited to see positive synergies fostered to encourage and empower collaborations to bring the joy of gaming to a broad community.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, said in a statement:
Blizzard and NetEase have done incredible work to renew our commitment to players – Blizzard’s universes have been part of players’ lives in the region for many years. 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.
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
With Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush, Microsoft has brought a number of its first-party Xbox titles to rival platforms in recent weeks, and though that’s set to continue with Sea of Thieves, which launches for PS5 on April 30, for now, that’s as much as we know about Microsoft’s plans for multiplatform releases. Interestingly, however, CEO Satya Nadella has suggested that more Xbox titles will be following in the aforementioned games’ footsteps.
We’ve been hearing about Lost Soul Aside for years at this point, and though the Devil May Cry and Final Fantasy-inspired action RPG has continued to look impressive with each of its new showings, details on when the game will actually launch have remained frustratingly elusive. That, however, might change soon.
The Prince of Persia has gone rogue! No, I don’t mean that he’s married a Hollywood actress, moved to California, and spilled the royal tea in a tell-all interview with Oprah. I mean he’s starring in his first 2D roguelite. Hot off the heels of the series’ excellent return to form in January’s The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, his sword-swinging highness is stepping away from the Metroidvania structure and into the procedurally generated, live, die, repeat mold of Dead Cells, in The Rogue Prince of Persia. While I’ve only had a very short amount of hands-on time with the upcoming adventure, the early signs suggest that this could well be the second dazzling jewel added to the Prince’s crown in less than the space of a year.
Blizzard has announced that its games are coming back to mainland China in summer 2024 after almost a year and a half off the market. Additionally, Microsoft (which now owns Blizzard) and NetEase have entered another separate agreement to bring NetEase games to Xbox and other platforms.