The “Warcraft Amusement Park” in China is quite bold. At first glance, you can see what has been stolen – it only works there.
The idea is actually obvious. A large amusement park centered around the various Blizzard universes. An area for World of Warcraft, an area for StarCraft, and Overwatch, plus the hell from Diablo and a Hearthstone tavern.
What the developers in Overwatch created with the map “Blizzard World” also exists in reality – albeit not officially. Because the “Joyland” amusement park in China does not take licensing rights very seriously.
What kind of park is this? The “World Joyland” is a huge amusement park in China that spans numerous different areas, all related to various aspects of the fantasy genre. According to reports from Jessica Colwell from Shanghaiist, the park is even so large that it’s hard to see or experience everything in one day.
But Blizzard fans will likely notice two areas right away, as “Joyland” features both a Warcraft and a StarCraft area. Parts of it can be seen in this (somewhat older) video about the park:
In fact, everything here screams “copyright infringement” so loudly that such a park would hardly be conceivable in the rest of the world. There are huge statues of the Lich King, while obvious Draenei, Blood Elves, and banners of Stormwind can be seen as far as the eye can see.
In the distance, buildings of the city of Silvermoon can be recognized, and the overall aesthetic makes it clear: A WoW fan should be able to recognize many details here.
The park is deteriorating, nerds are getting unhappy
However, Blizzard fans are unlikely to be very happy here, Colwell suggests, warning in several respects about the large park:
Joyland does not really manage to evoke the player experience – there are no activities that resemble actual gameplay and there was a shocking absence of nerds.
Even in the obviously fantasy elements borrowed from Warcraft, there are creatures that don’t have much to do with Warcraft – such as mermaids or fairies:
The most impressive part of the Warcraft park are the huge statues that move through the park and scream “copyright infringement”. However, there is no separation between Horde and Alliance, and Tauren, Night Elves, and Humans are apparently wildly mixed. They also threw in a few dragons and mermaids into the mix.
For visitors without Chinese language skills, the park can also be quite confusing, as it seems to be not designed for foreign visitors:
Map overviews for the park are available at the entrance, but they are, aside from the area names, completely in Chinese.
Lastly, Colwell also has significant concerns about the quality and maintenance of the park, as it is likely not very well cared for. Just a little over two months after the park opened, she already wrote:
One of the worst aspects is the general decay of the park we observed, alarming in a park that had only been opened for two months. Cracks in the paint and rust on the handrails made the “goodbye!” of the park staff when they started a ride even more eerie.
Is the park allowed to do this? If it were up to Blizzard, probably not. However, China does not take licensing rights and the degree of “inspiration” one allows very seriously. But at least the park has forgone official Blizzard designations.
- Thus, the area obviously inspired by Warcraft is called “Terrain of Magic”.
- The StarCraft area, on the other hand, is called “Universe of Starship”.
Whether Blizzard will ever fulfill the fans’ wish for an official theme park is questionable. They would have enough material for it – and at least on the first consideration, there would likely be enough Blizzard fans willing to bring friends, family, and children there.
