Chinese game publisher NetEase and Hearthstone developer Blizzard Entertainment hosted a Hearthstone international showmatch on Monday called “China vs EU Clash” at the Hangzhou Canal Culture and Art Centre, featuring four Chinese players and four European players. The showmatch featured a ￥400K RMB ($56,000 USD) total prize money, and a BYD Yangwang U9 electric supercar as the MVP (most valuable player) reward.
Ultimately, the Chinese team won the event and took home ￥250K ($35,000) in prize money, with Zhang “LvGe” Yuchen being named the MVP, and earning the right to drive a BYD Yangwang U9 supercar for one year.
The BYD Yangwang U9 was launched in 2024 with a retail price of ￥1.68M ($236,000), and has become the fastest production car in the world, boasting a top speed of 308.4 mph. BYD Yangwang U9 Xtreme made this new record at Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP), Germany, beating the previous record-holding Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which managed 304.8 mph in 2019.
The Hearthstone event is also a celebration of the one-year anniversary of the return of the Chinese Hearthstone server, which was shut down in 2022-2024, following a dispute between NetEase and Blizzard. NetEase also announced that the Hearthstone players have accumulated more than 100 million players in the China server.