Gamers in China blocked access to Blizzard games in January (opens in new tab)World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo 3, and Overwatch, as a result of several months of strife between Activision and its Chinese partner NetEase. new york times (opens in new tab) Reports say that the relationship between the two was strained for a while, but the incident that ultimately ended their relationship may have been a misunderstanding.
According to reports, the relationship between Activision and NetEase has been strained for some time. For example, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick complained in 2018 that NetEase had invested his $100 million in Bungie. (opens in new tab)Bungie was behind schedule with content for Destiny 2, and Kotick was concerned that Bungie’s investment in becoming a “multi-franchise entertainment studio” would further slow work. Kotick was also reportedly unhappy with another of his NetEase investments in studios founded by former senior Activision employees. That led to his 2019 agreement barring NetEase from hiring former Activision employees or investing in studios.
Those tensions were probably still lingering when representatives from both companies began negotiations on a proposed change to the licensing agreement between Activision and NetEase in October 2022. As before, it will make it easier for the company to comply with China’s tightening gaming regulations. (opens in new tab); Activision has been reluctant to allow NetEase more control over game properties than before.
In negotiations conducted through an interpreter, NetEase CEO William Ding said the Chinese government could be persuaded to block or approve Microsoft’s offer to buy Activision Blizzard, depending on how the new licensing negotiations go. is said to have spoken. Activision executives took the statement as a threat â if they don’t give us what we want, they’ll basically end the contract with Microsoft â but Netease executives said NetEase’s new licensing deal He said he was just pointing out that Microsoft would have to unless they gave it more control. After taking control of Activision, it will deal with the tough Chinese regulations themselves.
After the call ended, Activision said it would agree to a new licensing deal if NetEase paid $500 million upfront. NetEase said no, but later turned down the last-minute offer (opens in new tab) The existing contract will be extended for another six months to maintain access to the game while Activision looks for a new publishing partner in China.
It was clearly a bad goodbye.NetEase employee smashes giant statue just before Blizzard game goes dark in China (opens in new tab) Of World of Warcraft’s legendary two-handed ax Gorehowl sat outside the studio handling Blizzard licenses. Things don’t seem to have improved since then. A NetEase spokesperson accused Activision of continuing to “harass and taunt companies and regulators around the world” with its actions.
Activision said it was “committed” to Chinese players when its games went dark and would look for alternative ways to run its games in China. One of his possible alternative distributors is rumored to be The9, who published World of Warcraft in China before Activision moved to NetEase. The proposed acquisition of Microsoft also appears to be moving forward. The UK Competition and Markets Authority recently changed its mind about the deal and said it was no longer relevant in the interim. (opens in new tab) On the possibility of Microsoft making the Call of Duty game exclusive to Xbox.
