Update: Turns out the report is incorrect. Blizzard is still being sued in China. However, despite the fact that the court docket indicates that NetEase is suing Blizzard, it is actually one furious guy named Yang Jun who has enlisted NetEase as an appellant. These court documents suggest, whether mistakenly or not, that Yang Jun is working with or for NetEase. However, this is not the case as he is a serial litigant with no affiliation to NetEase. The filings have now been modified to indicate that the suits are being brought solely by Yang Jun, with NetEase’s name removed entirely.
According to a Chinese media site Sina Technology, NetEase is suing Blizzard for 300 million Chinese Yuan ($43.5 million). The report said that the lawsuit covers some areas.
The first claim is that NetEase was left to cover refunds promised by Blizzard to users who requested them when the servers went down. NetEase claims to have repaid over 1.12 million players since then and demands payment.
Other claims are related to unreleased games and remaining merchandise. NetEase has paid full refunds for discontinued games like World of Warcraft, made prepayments for unsold game inventory, and deposited prepayments for multiple undeveloped games, all of which are included in the stated amount.
However, PC Gamer contacted Blizzard for comment on the lawsuit and Activision Blizzard said, “We have not received a suit or related papers from NetEase yet.” So, take the news with a grain of salt.
For 14 years, NetEase published Blizzard’s games in China, until the licensing agreement expired in January. Unfortunately, It was not a peaceful divorce.
After NetEase rejected a proposed six-month extension under the current terms, Blizzard’s games stopped working in China on January 23 once their current deal had expired.
Checkout my other article: Chinese Regulator Approved 86 New Game Licences, including Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
“It is a pity that NetEase is not willing to extend services of our game for another six months on the basis of existing terms as we look for a new partner,” said the statement from Blizzard China on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo.
In case you didn’t know, for any video game to operate in China, it must have a Chinese publisher and government licenses. Additionally, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently intensified its scrutiny of the content of foreign titles.
In response, NetEase then published a hard-hitting statement on its official Weibo page. NetEase alleged that the extension provided by Blizzard was “unequal” and “unfair,” and that its following public statements were “outrageous, inappropriate, and inconsistent with business logic.”
“[Blizzard’s] arrogance did not take into account the position it has left players and NetEase in by demanding everything. It is like riding a mule to find a horse, the behaviour of people divorced but still trying to live together”. Said the statement.