NetEase slaps Blizzard Entertainment with lawsuit after World of Warcraft creator suspended Chinese services

NetEase’s lawsuit demands US$45 million as compensation for refunds it paid to affected gamers after Blizzard Entertainment suspended local services

The US firm asserts that it is not in breach of any licensing deal and that NetEase appears to be complaining about a standard industry practice

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The Shanghai lawsuit marks an escalation in the dispute between NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment on the treatment of local players of US-developed games since the end of 2022. Photo: Shutterstock

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 12:30am, 26 Apr 2023Updated: 3:39pm, 26 Apr 2023

NetEase, China’s second-largest video gaming company, has slapped World of Warcraft creator Blizzard Entertainment with a lawsuit in a Shanghai court to demand 300 million yuan (US$45 million) in compensation, according to local reports, plunging the end of their 14-year business partnership on the mainland last January into controversy.

The lawsuit was filed by NetEase affiliate Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology after a dispute arose from the US video game publisher’s move to suspend services for its popular online titles in mainland China from January 23, according to a source close to the Chinese firm on Tuesday, without providing details.

The sum that NetEase has demanded from Blizzard Entertainment covers the refunds to local players, which the Chinese company has paid in full, related to the discontinued US-developed titles – including Overwatch, Hearthstone, StarCraft and Diablo III – as well as payments related to unsold gaming-related merchandise and certain undeveloped games, according to a report on Monday by The Paper, a mainland digital newspaper.

Blizzard Entertainment has refused to bear responsibility for those refunds made by Hangzhou-based NetEase to mainland Chinese gamers, the Paper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

US video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment suspended its online gaming services in mainland China on January 23. Photo: Shutterstock

A representative from Santa Monica, California-based video game holding company Activision Blizzard, which owns Blizzard Entertainment, said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Tuesday that the company holds that it is not at fault in this dispute with NetEase.

NetEase slaps Blizzard Entertainment with lawsuit after World of Warcraft creator suspended Chinese services

NetEase’s lawsuit demands US$45 million as compensation for refunds it paid to affected gamers after Blizzard Entertainment suspended local services The US firm asserts that it is not in breach of any licensing deal and that NetEase appears to be complaining about a standard industry practice

NetEase’s lawsuit demands US$45 million as compensation for refunds it paid to affected gamers after Blizzard Entertainment suspended local services

The US firm asserts that it is not in breach of any licensing deal and that NetEase appears to be complaining about a standard industry practice