Recently, Chinese media reported that NetEase decided to sue Blizzard Entertainment, whose games have been published in the country for 14 years, for about $43.5 million. The lawsuit actually took place, but NetEase does not appear to be involved.
How did the portal find out about this? Wowthe Blizzard suing in China is not NetEase, but a disgruntled Chinese gamer named Yang Jun, who somehow included NetEase among the plaintiffs, likely confusing the local courts.
Jun “jointly” with NetEase presented his claims to both Blizzard and its former licensing partner The9 (which published Blizzard games in China before NetEase), which should have raised suspicions but didn’t.
Notably, this isn’t even the first time Jun has sued companies. For example, in 2019 he tried to get compensation for playing time for WoW from the same NetEase, but this claim was rejected.
portal PC gamer wonders if this situation was the result of a simple bureaucratic error or an attempt to place this lawsuit in the context of a publicized dispute between two former partners.
In a press statement, Blizzard said it has not received any legal action but is confident that the licensing agreements will be honored: “We have enjoyed working in China for almost two decades and remain committed to serving players and protecting their interests.”.
Remember that on January 23rd, Blizzard games stopped working in China. Millions of Chinese users have lost access to World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Diablo (excluding Diablo Immortal) and Overwatch 2. However, maybe not forever.
Add Comment