NetEase Sues Blizzard for $43.5 Million in Latest Legal Battle

NetEase has filed a lawsuit against American video game company Blizzard for $43.5 million. This comes after the termination of a longstanding 14-year partnership earlier this year, which had allowed Blizzard to release its games in China. Among other claims, NetEase alleges that Blizzard promised refunds to over a million players when the Chinese servers went offline for popular games like Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, StarCraft, and Heroes of the Storm on January 23, 2021. However, the task of issuing refunds fell to NetEase, leading to a demand for redress for “unequal provisions” due to alleged violations of licensing agreements. NetEase also seeks compensation for unsold merchandise inventory and claims that Blizzard did not refund a sizable deposit for several of its games that were not ultimately developed. The lawsuit may involve other products for Chinese consumers, depending on the interpretation of the “overlord clauses” mentioned in the deal. Blizzard has faced several high-profile lawsuits in recent years, including a civil antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice and a settlement deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission for workplace charges. GameSpot’s editors independently selected the products discussed in this article, and the website may receive a share of the revenue from any purchases made through featured links.