NetEase News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Within two days of NetEase announcing a renewal of their partnership to bring Blizzard games back to China, over two million players have pre-registered, 147,000 accounts reactivated, 92,000 accounts recovered, and Blizzard China has received 1,000+ resumes! While restoring service to other Blizzard games including Hearthstone, Overwatch, Starcraft, Diablo, and Heroes of the Storm, the response for WoW has been overwhelming. Officially reported by Blizzard China and translated by NasDa on Twitter, these stats show the extreme appetite for World of Warcraft in China. While many players completely rerolled on Taiwanese realms in order to keep playing after servers shut down last year, many more still have been left in limbo, without access to the game they invested the better part of two decades into playing.

Diablo Immortal is offering up some new mayhem in its next season, Treacherous Reflection. The update will add a new limited-time event, event updates, a new Tower War season, and the Season 26 Battle Pass.

A spooky crossover has just dropped. The Identity V x Little Nightmares event runs till May 23rd. And it’s going to drag Six and Mono from Little Nightmares right into the eerie world of Identity V. These two kids are about to find themselves in a whole new nightmare, and you can snag their classic looks while you’re at it.

Once Human has opened up pre-registration on the Google Play Store, ahead of tonight’s mobile closed beta test start.

Microsoft Gaming and NetEase have entered into an agreement to explore bringing new NetEase games to Xbox consoles and other platforms.

Blizzard Entertainment has renewed its publishing agreement with NetEase, which is set to begin this summer.

Blizzard games are set to return to China in a new licensing agreement, well over a year after games like Diablo 4 and World of Warcraft exited the country after Blizzard and NetEase failed to reach an agreement.

US games firm Blizzard has signed a new deal with China's NetEase.

Blizzard and NetEase’s new deal was not just for Blizzard games to come to China. As it turns out, it could go the other way too.

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.

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.

NetEase has announced a renewed partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to bring World of Warcraft and other Blizzard games back to China! Included in the announcement were statements from NetEase President Ding Lei, Blizzard President Johanna Faries, and Head of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer all celebrating the renewed venture and welcoming the Chinese player base home again.

Following the announcement of a renewed partnership to bring Blizzard Entertainment games back to mainland China, NetEase has released further details explaining their plans to support World of Warcraft for their restored playerbase! Included are preparations for various e-sport events, more anti-cheating measures, better support for content creators, and ways for players to earn to missed rewards during Dragonflight. Additionally, NetEase has shared plans to work with Blizzard artists to design a new Gorehowl statue incorporating community collected player messages, which will be renamed Bloodhowl.

NetEase is reportedly about to bring Blizzard’s games back to China.

Activision Blizzard‘s games could return to the Chinese market soon, it’s been claimed.

Everstone Studio has released the latest long awaited update to its upcoming open world title, Where Winds Meet.

Where Winds Meet, the Wuxia open world action/adventure roleplaying game announced by NetEase at Gamescom 2022, is starting its first Closed Beta Test (CBT) on April 19 for North American players.

The general manager of the Warcraft series says Blizzard isn’t against the idea of licensing out the Warcraft IP to third-party developers.

Starry Studios and NetEase Games just dropped a new trailer for Once Human, their upcoming supernatural survival game. The game will soon be rolling out its closed beta test. If you haven’t heard about this game yet, let us give you a quick lowdown on Once Human CBT!

A new Marvel game will be officially announced tomorrow (that's the 27th March) at 8am PT / 11am ET / 3pm GMT. That's according to hype master Geoff Keighley, who's teasing the title on social media.

Marvel Rivals was just announced, the latest collaboration between Marvel and Netease Games. Unfortunately, we are already learning about issues behind the scenes of its production.

Earlier today, developer NetEase Games revealed Marvel Rivals, their take on the hero shooter genre that Overwatch popularized, but with actual heroes. Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man and many more classic superheroes will compete in 6v6 battles across a variety of maps, duking it out to stop Doctor Doom and his 2099 counterpart from taking over the multiverse. Your typical Marvel plotline.

NetEase Games and Marvel Games have officially revealed Marvel Rivals, a free-to-play team-based PvP shooter in development for PC.

The “hero shooter” is a popular competitive multiplayer game subgenre where players control characters with powerful preset abilities rather than a customizable loadout. Although “hero” is right there in the subgenre name, and Overwatch proved how well superheroes could work with the concept, we haven’t gotten a true attempt at this style of game from Marvel or DC.

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NetEase and Marvel Games have announced Marvel Rivals, a team-based PVP shooter set in the Marvel Universe.

Marvel has announced its new shooter title, , featuring some of the company's most popular characters from the Avengers, X-Men, and Guardians of the Galaxy. The title was previously rumored to be a first-person shooter, but new gameplay footage shows that this will not be the case, with the title being playable from a third-person perspective, with the heroes using their unique abilities to fend off their opponents.

NetEase Games has announced a new PC game called Marvel Rivals, with an eye-catching first trailer (see above) showcasing heaps of fan-favourite characters including Spider-Man, Loki, Doctor Strange and Iron Man.

NetEase and Marvel Games have announced Marvel Rivals, a 6v6 team-based free-to-play shooter headed to PC that stars iconic heroes and villains from the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, and many more.

Marvel Games and NetEase just announced a new Overwatch-like team shooter called Marvel Rivals. As the name suggests, playable characters will be pulled from throughout the Marvel Multiverse, including members of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men.

Following various leaks over the past few days and the announcement of a collaboration nearly five years ago, NetEase and Marvel Games have finally announced Marvel Rivals, an Overwatch-like third-person shooter game featuring 6v6 PvP matches filled with superheroes and villains. Marvel Rivals is being developed for PC by a global team that includes talent with credits on shooter franchises like Battlefield and Call of Duty.

In case Amy Hennig's Captain America and Black Panther game 1943: Rise Of Hydra wasn't going to be quite enough to satisfy your Marvel hunger, Netease have just announced they've got another comic book bun in the oven for you. Marvel Rivals is a free-to-play, third-person team shooter where two teams of six heroes and villains go head to head with each other in destructible arenas. I can't say its reveal trailer has me particularly pumped - the game looks and feels a bit like it's ten years too late. Still, why not come and have a gander at it below.

NetEase and Marvel have just announced a free-to-play Overwatch-like hero shooter called Marvel Rivals, featuring 6v6 matches and destructible environments.

Well, well, well. We have some exciting scoop for all you Marvel fans. Marvel Games dropped a tweet on their official X (Twitter) account about some big reveal. It’s happening today at 8 AM Pacific Time. The message was pretty cryptic without many (or rather any) hints.

Yesterday, we reported on a rumored upcoming Marvel game that will be similar to Overwatch. Now we have new information to bolster this rumor.

Marvel Games has teased plans for an big announcement this Wednesday.

Onmyoji ignited controversy this week by accusing MOBA Honor of Kings of copying character designs. So far in the Onmyoji and Honor of Kings Clash, the accusations centre on two characters: Onmyoji’s Susanoo and SP Susabi, versus Honor of Kings’ Da Siming and Oshimikami. Onmyoji claims that these designs bear too close a resemblance to be coincidental.

The developers at Starry Studios and NetEase have announced that their upcoming action survival gameOnce Human has reached 7.7 million pre-registrations, and if they reach 10 million, they will unlock even more content at launch.

NetEase released its financials results for 2023, with the Chinese gaming firm experiencing growth across the board – particularly in its games division.

David Vonderhaar, best known for his work on Activision and Treyarch‘s Call of Duty Black Ops series, has been announced as the studio head for Los Angeles based BulletFarm. This is the latest development studio created by Chinese gaming giant, NetEase, as it attempts to expand into the western market and leverage industry talent.

BulletFarm, a new «remote-first» studio based in Los Angeles, has been formed by Call of Duty veteran David Vonderhaar, who has appointed former CoD developer Chris Cowell as its creative director. The studio is already hard at work on its first project, which Vonderhaar offered some details about. Fans likely recognize Vonderhaar's name, who directed the multiplayer modes for many of Treyarch's Call of Duty titles.

NetEase has announced its latest AAA studio, BulletFarm, with Call of Duty veteran David Vonderhaar at the helm. BulletFarm is a brand new game development company working on “building a world-class team.” Though the studio is based in Los Angeles, California, it is remote-first.

David Vonderhaar, best known for his work on Activision and Treyarch‘s Call of Duty Black Ops series, has been announced as the studio head for Los Angeles based BulletFarm. This is the latest development studio created by Chinese gaming giant, NetEase, as it attempts to expand into the western market and leverage industry talent.

Veteran Call of Duty: Black Ops designer David Vonderhaar has established a new “AAA game studio” with NetEase.

Former Call of Duty: Black Ops developer David Vonderhaar has founded a new studio and announced a new first-person co-op game.

NetEase Games has opened another new studio in the West in the form of BulletFarm, and has hired Call of Duty veteran David Vonderhaar to lead the team.

NetEase Games has announced the establishment of BulletFarm, a new remote-first AAA game studio headquartered in Los Angeles, California and led by industry veteran David Vonderhaar.

David Vonderhaar left Call of Duty Black Ops developer Treyarch last August, after 18 years at the studio where he served as designer on eight Call of Duty games. On Wednesday, Vonderhaar announced a new venture and a new studio called BulletFarm.

Today, NetEase announced the foundation of a new AAA remote-first (albeit with headquarters in Los Angeles) game development studio called BulletFarm, led by Call of Duty: Black Ops Designer David Vonderhaar.

Everywhere developer Build A Rocket Boy has confirmed a round of layoffs at the company, which was founded by ex-Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies in 2016.

Pocket monster romp Palworld was once again the biggest-selling title on Steam last week.

Diablo Immortal is beginning to roll out its latest content update, with Season 22: Plague Reaper and a new Battle Pass,returning events, balance changes, and feature updates included.

Diablo Immortal delivers on promises for even more storage and more new features, along with returning events in this week’s new update.

Chinese regulators could ban to some of the mobile gacha industry’s most well-known tactics, including login and purchase rewards if a new set of proposals goes through. 

Chinese regulators have announced far-reaching curbs on monetisation and reward systems for online games, in a move that has wiped almost $80 billion from the market value of the world's biggest videogame publisher Tencent and their rival NetEase. Under the new government restrictions, which are pending final approval, online games in China will be banned from giving players rewards for logging in every day, spending money within the game for the first time, or spending money several times consecutively.

China has announced new rules to limit the encouragement of spending in online video games, spooking investors in two of the world's biggest publishers.

24 Entertainment and NetEase Games held Naraka Fest, and revealed a ton of new goodness coming to Naraka: Bladepoint. New content includes a new hero, the next new weapon, a collaboration with Gundam creator Kunio Okawara, and a new martial arts history project.

If there’s one thing we’ve learned recently, it’s that Survival MMOs cancertainly be a mixed bag. It’s common to see lackluster combat, mediocre building options, and a common pitfall of placing too much emphasis on punishing hunger and thirst mechanics. Once Human by Starry Studio and published by NetEase Games takes these features and finds a way to balance them to enhance the gameplay, rather than punish players for it. Let’s get into a deep dive of thissupernatural survival MMO.

Familiars will arrive in Diablo Immortal’s last major content update of the year, Splintered Souls. The update is set to be available across all regions by tomorrow. It opens the new Southern Dreadlands zone, new daily event, a free trial for Gems, and much more.

The latest beta test for Once Human, from NetEase and Starry Studio, has seen such an enthusiastic response and high demand that the team is expanding the test from 20,000 to 50,000. However, in order to maintain a good experience for all, after December 13th, the test will go invite-only, so there’s a limited time to download and freely access the beta.

Diablo Immortal’s next major update, Splintered Souls, is bringing Familiars into the fray. In addition to the addition of Familiars, the update, coming December 14th, Adds a new zone, questline, a brand new event, additional Inferno difficulties, events, and more Helliquary bosses.

Once Human, a new post-apocalyptic multiplayer open-world survival game from Starry Studio and NetEase, will open a beta test tomorrow.  The teams describe their game as «a New Weird Sandbox Survival Game», and now's your chance to see what they mean.

Krafton and NetEase have resolved their dispute over PUBG and Knives Out.

Courtesy of its focus on martial arts-inspired melee combat, Naraka: Bladepoint has carved out a niche for itself in the uber-competitive battle royale genre, and the multiplayer title has kept on growing in popularity.

Diablo Immortal is preparing for its next major content update, but before that arrives, here comes the Season 20 Battle Pass and seasonal theme: Unholy Passengers.

NetEase is expanding in North America again, with Worlds Untold, a new, fully-remote studio based in Vancouver, led by former BioWare vet, Mac Walters.

NetEase has added yet another studio to its development roster with today's unveiling of Worlds Untold, a new studio led by former BioWare developer Mac Walters.

NetEase's popular Chinese MMORPG, Justice, could soon make its Western debut. This speculation is fueled by a trademark application for Sword of Justice by NetEase Interactive Entertainment, filed on September 1, 2023, indicating a possible rebranding for the Western market.

This week, Diablo Immortal adds some new features, including two affecting gems, a camera improvement, balance tweaks, and some returning events. The update also sets the foundation for the upcoming Harvest Bounty event.

NetEase and industry veteran Greg Street have formed a new studio, Fantastic Pixel Castle, and have announced the start of development on its first game.

Diablo Immortal is getting ready for its Season 19 Battle Pass, Spawn of Destruction. This week’s update also adds new Legendary items, several feature improvements, and returning events. 

Diablo games are perfect for the Halloween season, and Diablo Immortal is here to set the stage for some even greater hauntings. The latest update will begin the Hallow’s Wake event, add new cosmetics, balance changes, events, and the ability to replay dungeons.

Tristram Cathedral is making its way into the next major Diablo Immortal update, Dark Rebirth. The update brings a new main quest, dungeon, new PvP mode, and even The Butcher drops by.

Toshihiro Nagoshi, known for his work in helping create the Yakuza franchise, has revealed that his next game will feature western actors. Speaking to Video Games Chronicle, Nagoshi reveals that his new project is in development, and that it might feature a more international cast.

Diablo Immortal’s latest update goes live tomorrow, with the Trial of the Hordes Unleashed PvP event, other returning events, Battlegrounds and matchmaking changes, and more.

NetEase has announced a new open-world urban-set RPG. The new game, with the working title Project Mugen, was revealed as part of Gamescom.

Diablo Immortal’s 17th Season is coming with the new update, which also adds dozens of new Legendary items, a new Battle Pass, atweaked Conqueror PvP event, and the arrival of Training Grounds.  

Today, NetEase unveiled its new US-based studio. T-Minus Zero Entertainment is located in Austin, Texas and is led by MMO veteran Rich Vogel. The studio is developing its first project, described in the announcement as «an ambitious, third person online multiplayer action game set in a sci-fi universe” and based on an original IP.

This week, Diablo Immortal’ s new update brings a new PvP event, Wild Brawl, brings back other events, and adds a way to get more of the Legendary Gems that you need. This week, the PC version leaves open beta for its full launch.

Ashfall will begin its closed beta on August 3rd. NetEase’s upcoming post-apocalyptic MMORPG, which will release on PC and mobile, released details on what beta testers can expect.