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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Jez Corden

What does Microsoft's big NetEase-Blizzard partnership mean for Xbox? An analysis.

NetEase Blizzard Microsoft Xbox Daniel Ahmad China Niko Partners Phil Spencer ActivisionBlizzard Blizzard Entertainment
NetEase, Blizzard, and Xbox leaders .

Back in 2008, Blizzard Entertainment signed an agreement with Chinese tech giant NetEase to be the exclusive partner for publishing their games in the region. World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, to Overwatch, and more, NetEase and Blizzard served millions upon millions of fans in China for fourteen years, until things went south. 

In 2022, Blizzard announced that it would be severing ties with NetEase following the expiry of their licensing agreement with the firm. Chinese players who had invested over ten years into their World of Warcraft characters were doomed to lose access. Overwatch and Hearthstone would no longer be available, either. Diablo Immortal would remain the last remnants of the original partnership, licensed under a different contract. 

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