EPA
NOS News•
De online multiplayer game World of Warcraft has been unavailable in China for a few hours. The American company Activision Blizzard, which makes the game, and the Chinese distributor NetEase stop working together after fourteen years.
It is not yet known if and when Chinese gamers will be able to return to Azeroth, the fantasy world of World of Warcraft. Activision Blizzard has not found another Chinese partner to work with. Such cooperation is necessary to gain access to the Chinese market.
Activision Blizzard made a proposal to NetEase earlier this month to extend the old contract by six months. That was unsuccessful. NetEase, China’s second-largest gaming company, called the proposal “commercially illogical” and called Activision Blizzard’s terms “unequal and unfair”.
The reason for ending the collaboration is that the companies could not reach agreement on the new contract terms.
The games Diablo III in Overwatch from Activision Blizzard are also taken offline from the Chinese servers. Gamers will be able to save their data should the games ever be launched in the country again.
