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The Chinese publisher has publicly smashed up a giant WoW Orc statue in a fiery response to a proposed extension of the current partnership deal with Blizzard.
NetEase, the publishing company which distributes Blizzard games in China, has made a fiery response to a proposed extension of the current partnership deal between the two companies.
In an act of protest, the company destroyed the World of Warcraft Orc statue outside its offices. The footage of the incident was broadcast live, and it shows volunteers using sledgehammers to smash the statue from Blizzard's MMORPG apart.
The destruction of the statue comes after the companies announced that their 14-year-long partnership would end on January 23. This would render games including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm inaccessible in China from January 24.
Following the announcement of the termination of the partnership, Blizzard approached NetEase to propose a temporary extension of its contract with the Chinese publisher for six months while it was looking for a new long-term publishing partner in China.
However, NetEase rejected this deal, calling it "rude and unreasonable, inappropriate and commercially illogical," accusing the company of "seeking a divorce but still remaining attached." The destruction of the statue of a WoW Orc that previously stood outside NetEase's main offices appears to be a further protest of Activision Blizzard’s proposals.
A video captured by TikTok channel ChaijingNDS, and reported on by WoWHead, shows people using hammers to dismantle the statue and being handed free drinks with the NetEase branding in return.
A beverage shown in the video seems to be a new drink from NetEase's coffee shop called Blizzard Green Tea, which is apparently related to a phrase associated with a slur in China, which, according to WoWHead, means "a manipulative person who tries to appear wholesome, innocent, or traditional, but is decidedly not so."
You can find WoWHead's original report here. Also, don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.