It
looks
like
Blizzard
titles
such
as
World
of
Warcraft
will
be
returning
to
the
Chinese
market
for
the
first
time
since
the
region
lost
access
to
them
in
2023.

The
news
comes
via
Chinese
market
analyst
CN
Wire,
with
a
formal
announcement
of
the
deal
expected
to
be
made
on
Wednesday.

Leaked
photos
show
NetEase
CEO
Ding
Lei
met
with
Blizzard’s
new
CEO,
Johanna
Faries.

$NTES

pic.twitter.com/Oi2GRL3GFn

—
CN
Wire
(@Sino_Market)

April
9,
2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Adding
fuel
to
the
speculation
fire
is
a
leaked
image
of
what
appears
to
be
NetEase
CEO
Ding
Lei
meeting
with
Activision
Blizzard
CEO
Johanna
Faries.

Due
to
the
speculation,
Netease
shares
have
risen
as
much
as
5%.
If
you’re
wondering
what
Netease
has
to
do
with
publishing
games
in
China,
the
basic
gist
is
that
Chinese
law
requires
any
outside
company
to
work
with
a
local
entity
in
order
to
do
business
in
China.
It’s
this
law
that
has
helped
NetEase
and
Tencent
grow
even
large
because
as
two
of
the
biggest
tech
giants
in
the
country,
many
outside
parties
choose
them
as
their
partner.

Activision
Blizzard
and
NetEase
originally
signed
a
deal
in
2008
which
allowed
NetEase
to
publish
Blizzard
games
in
China
such
as
World
of
Warcraft,
Overwatch
and
Diablo.

In
2022
the
long-running
partnership
collapsed
as
both
companies
couldn’t
agree
on
terms.
That
meant
players
in
China
could
no
longer
legally
access
the
likes
of
World
of
Warcraft
which
is
hugely
popular
in
the
country,
from
early
2023,
although
many
found
ways
around
this.

It’s
unclear
what
has
brought
both
parties
back
to
the
negotiating
table,
but
the
mostly
likely
reason
is
that
Bobby
Kotick
is
no
longer
in
charge
of
Activision
Blizzard,
and
Microsoft
now
own
the
company.

On
social
media,
a
NetEase
executive
blamed
a
“jerk”
for
the
destruction
of
the
deal,
which
many
took
to
be
a
reference
to
Bobby
Kotick.

On
the
other
side,
a
source
told
IGN
in
2022
that
the
deal
was
reviewed
every
few
years,
and
that
NetEase
wanted
to
make
changes
which
would
fundmentally
alter
the
agreement.

Both
companies
would
go
on
to
take
potshots
at
each
other.
I’d
highly
recommend
reading

The
China
Projects
breakdown
of
the
situation
for
a
better
look
at
everything
and
how
it
played
out.

Regardless
of
what
happened
and
who
caused
it,
the
recently
leaked
photo
and
reports
seem
to
strong
suggest
that
NetEase
and
Blizzard
have
managed
to
patch
up
the
relationship
which
is
great
news
for
Chinese
gamers.