NetEase Says Blizzard's Proposal Was "Rude and Unreasonable"

Following the news that Blizzard and NetEase, which was handling Blizzard titles in China, were ending their 14-year-long partnership, Blizzard revealed that it had contacted the Chinese publisher with a proposal to extend the Chinese operations for Blizzard games for additional six months.

According to the World of Warcraft developer, however, NetEase rejected the proposal, so the partnership is set to end on January 23 as planned.

On Tuesday, NetEase confirmed that it had rejected a proposal from Blizzard. The Chinese giant noted that when Blizzard approached it with an offer to extend their partnership for six months, it also stated that it would not cease talks with other potential partners during this time, which is why NetEase said that the proposal was "rude and unreasonable" and accused the company of "seeking a divorce but still remaining attached." 

"Considering the non-reciprocity, unfairness, and other strict conditions attached to the cooperation, the parties could not reach an agreement in the end," NetEase wrote. "In our view, Blizzard's proposal – including today's surprise announcement – is rude and unreasonable, inappropriate, and commercially illogical."

Starting January 23, multiple Blizzard titles, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm, will become unavailable to Chinese players. Meanwhile, Blizzard is looking for a new partner that would help bring its games back to the country, however, it is unlikely that it will be able to do this before the agreement with NetEase expires.

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