Update: As we reported on Tuesday, Activision Blizzard and NetEase officially announced on Wednesday morning that they have resumed their partnership.
Original Story: Sources tell The Esports Advocate that Chinese games publisher NetEase and U.S.-based game publisher Activision Blizzard will announce Wednesday (April 10) that they have resumed their partnership to provide access to the company’s line-up of games in mainland China.
There has been speculation for months that NetEase and Activision Blizzard were in talks to renew their partnership and bring back popular games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Hearthstone, and Overwatch 2 to the region, after the companies parted ways in January 2023 over a dispute on how much NetEase was being paid to operate the games in the region (which TEA chronicled in depth at the time).
The renewed partnership is not surprising, as NetEase subsidiary Net’s Ease actually holds the government approval rights to all of Activision Blizzard’s games in China, and short of another company buying that division or attempting to secure government approval themselves (which could take anywhere from two to four years, according to sources familiar with the process), NetEase was really Activision Blizzard’s only viable option to restoring its games in China.
The deal also makes sense because Microsoft closed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this year and NetEase is already its partner as the exclusive Chinese distributor of its iconic and globally popular game, Minecraft. The reunion of NetEase and Activision Blizzard is another sign of the already strong business tie between NetEase and Microsoft. Finally, the departure of longtime Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick (who was rumored to be at the heart of the dispute between the two companies) likely eased tensions a bit and brought both parties back to the table to negotiate.
Generally, Western companies that want to do business in mainland China have to work with a local distributing partner company; for example, when Microsoft decided to officially launch the Xbox 360 in the region it worked with a partner. In September 2013, Microsoft established a joint venture with BesTV to localize the Xbox console for the Chinese market (this followed China lifting a 13-year ban on the importation of consoles from Western companies).
Last month, sources familiar with the situation told TEA that Chinese servers for Blizzard games will be operated by NetEase’s Thunder Fire Group based in Hangzhou, China, while the customer service of Blizzard games will be handled by the NetEase Guangzhou office.
In addition, sources tell TEA that Chinese Overwatch 2 professional players are being told by ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) that they can not compete in the Overwatch Championship Series (OWCS), which will make a stop at the Esports World Cup this summer. TEA reached out to representatives for EFG (who secured the rights to operate esports competitions from Activision Blizzard at the beginning of this year) in the U.S. and the Esports World Cup Foundation, but both groups did not provide confirmation one way or the other on the validity of these claims, as of this writing. What sources are telling us makes sense—at least, as of this writing—because Overwatch 2 and other Blizzard games do not have official recognition in China right now (which means they can’t officially be played competitively).
Editor’s note: Hongyu Chen contributed to this story.