For Chinese fans of World of Warcraft, it is a big day. Because their favorite game is returning after nearly 18 months of absence.
World of Warcraft is more than just a game for many, often it is a piece of home. For Chinese fans, it was shocking news in January 2023 that Blizzard and NetEase ended their collaboration. Because that meant: Most Blizzard games were no longer available in China from then on. 666 million potential players lost their digital home. Now there is a new deal, and Chinese fans will even get additional events to make up for lost time.
A statue that was angrily destroyed back then is also set to be rebuilt – as a new symbol of cooperation.
With the upcoming expansion “The War Within,” players should be able to play in China again:
What’s the deal about? NetEase and Blizzard have announced that they have renewed their collaboration. The first games should be accessible again for Chinese fans this summer.
Since a lot has happened since the end of the collaboration, such as in World of Warcraft, Chinese fans missed out on many events and rewards that will probably only be available once in WoW, such as the current “Plunderstorm” mode. These events are intended to be made up for in another form, and the previous accounts should largely be restored.
Why did the deal fail back then? The exact reasons for the failure of the deal back then are not known; however, emotions were heated on both sides. At the end of the negotiations, the Chinese side became very emotional, and some sources indicate that one of the Blizzard executives was referred to as a “fool” after the negotiations failed. Rumors suggest that this was primarily due to Bobby Kotick, who allegedly wanted to negotiate significantly better conditions for Blizzard, to the detriment of NetEase (via wowhead).
Meanwhile, Blizzard is in the hands of Microsoft and is led by different people. Therefore, it seemed possible to negotiate a new deal with NetEase.
What’s the story with the statue? When the deal between NetEase and Blizzard failed in January 2023, emotions boiled over on the Chinese side. The NetEase offices responsible for Blizzard were almost abandoned overnight, and at the same time, a huge statue was destroyed. The statue was a representation of “Gorehowl,” the mighty axe of Grommash Hellscream. NetEase destroyed this statue during a live stream.
This very statue is now set to be rebuilt, almost as a landmark for the new agreement. Chinese players can participate in the construction of the statue, and some of their comments will even be incorporated into the statue.
For both Chinese players and Blizzard, the renewal of this deal is good news – because without the Chinese market, one would miss out on a lot of revenue.
In a few days, the Alpha of World of Warcraft: The War Within will also start – everything indicates so.
