A year later, NetEase and Blizzard, which had "unhappily separated", heard news of "reunion". On the evening of December 25, as soon as the news that "NetEase and Blizzard have resumed cooperation" came out, discussions on related topics quickly became hot searches on Weibo. According to the Financial Associated Press, in the past period of time, Blizzard has negotiated with many domestic game manufacturers about the "return of the national server", and finally chose to cooperate with NetEase again.

However, the report also mentioned that after the cooperation is confirmed, NetEase and Blizzard need to re-establish the national server operation team and test the servers and related systems. Therefore, players may have to wait half a year or more for the game they are looking forward to to be back online.

Regarding the matter of "joining hands" with Blizzard again, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily contacted NetEase immediately, but the other party said that there was no response yet. Blizzard China told the media in response to this news that there is currently no information or updates to share.

Public information shows that since Blizzard and NetEase announced their cooperation in 2008, they have accumulated a large number of loyal players by operating games such as "World of Warcraft", "Hearthstone" and "Overwatch". This 14-year cooperation announced its "breakup" in 2022. Does the news of this renewed cooperation mean that several classic IP games that have attracted much attention from players are expected to return?

In response to this news, many players said, "Under the influence of emotions, they are still looking forward to the news of the return of Blizzard's games. However, after a service suspension, there is also uncertainty about the stability and sustainability of the game, so they are cautious about returning to the game."

It has been more than a year since Blizzard issued an announcement on its official Weibo in November 2022 that it would cease the operation of the national server games of "World of Warcraft", "Warcraft III: Reforged", "StarCraft" series and "Hearthstone", "Heroes of the Storm", "Overwatch" and "Diablo III". Since then, starting from January 24, the operation of the above-mentioned Blizzard game national servers represented by NetEase has been terminated, and client downloads, Battle.net logins, and all game servers have been shut down.

Despite leaving the domestic market, Blizzard is still active in the domestic player circle. Domestic leading companies such as MiHoYo and Perfect World have reported that they will cooperate with Blizzard to become the national server agent of their games, but none of the above companies has confirmed it at the official level.

In addition, in April, Shanghai Netzhiyi Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. filed a lawsuit in Shanghai against Blizzard Entertainment Co., Ltd. for violating a series of license agreements, demanding a refund of 300 million yuan in arrears.

The amount includes refunds related to discontinued games such as "World of Warcraft" that NetEase has paid in full, advance payments for unsold game merchandise inventory, and advance deposits for several undeveloped games. The case also involves agreements related to agency games for Chinese servers such as "World of Warcraft", which contain multiple unequal clauses that favor Blizzard's unilateral rights. There is huge controversy over the legality and enforceability of the relevant clauses.

According to NetEase's third quarter financial report, the percentage contribution of games represented by Blizzard to NetEase's net revenue and net profit in 2021 and the first nine months of 2022 is in the low single digits. The expiration of the license will not have a significant impact on NetEase's financial results.

"Overall, the process from establishing cooperation to re-launching the game may be complex and lengthy, involving multiple levels of work." Investment analyst Gao Jia pointed out that it is necessary to deal with the legacy issues of the previous cooperation and ensure that the new cooperation agreement is in line with the interests of all parties. In addition, after re-entering the market, it is also necessary to re-establish attraction to players in a highly competitive market environment.

Beijing Business Daily reporters Lu Yang and Han Xinyuan