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22 /
“

We are discussing with new potential 44 in 2022 according to NPPA.

publication partners about continuing to As Blizzard failed to renew its 14-
year licensing agreement with
offer Chinese players a high-quality and NetEase, a Chinese technology

stable service. company, seven Blizzard games
were withdrawn from China. Both
” sides stated that they were unable
to agree on key financial items in
in 2022 and she has spent RMB ¥ Overseas game developers like their announcements.
600 (US $88.89) on them so far. Blizzard are required to find a Chi- Another main reason for the
After transferring to a new server, nese partner to apply for a publish- breakup was intellectual property
she has to restart everything there. ing license from National Press ownership and control over the
and Publication Administration data of millions of Chinese play-
“I feel terrible about losing every- (NPPA) in order to launch games ers, according to Bloomberg news
thing I built up in the game and in China. reported in November 2022. “Ne-
products such as skins and loot tEase never sought to control IP
boxes I bought last year,” she says. Chinese players are only allowed rights tied with Blizzard,” NetEase
to play games approved by the au- said on Weibo in January.
Blizzard said in a January statement thorities.
on Weibo, one of the biggest social Another foreign game player
media in China: “We are discuss- No foreign game was launched in Huang Zekai used to play online
ing with new potential publication China from July 2021 to December games for one and a half hours
partners about continuing to offer 2022. Mainland authorities start- every day. But he had to stop play-
Chinese players a high-quality and ed to grant approval to imported ing, as Blizzard closed its Chinese
stable service.” games again near the end of 2022. server in January.
The number fell from 76 in 2021 to
“I would not play the blizzard
games anymore because I am dis-
appointed with Blizzard’s decision
to shut down all services in China.
I think Blizzard games will not be
available soon. The games we lost
carry players’ memories of play-
ing with friends. We have spent so
much time and money practising
skills to win games we play,” Huang
says.

“I think the policy is taking a step
backwards. Censorship in China
is further tightened. Foreign game
developers have to revise their de-
sign, especially those with bloody
and violent images, ” he adds.
Players need the game booster to connect to unapproved foreign
games.