World of Warcraft went offline a few days ago in China leaving millions of players without access to the massively popular online game. Some gamers have taken to social media to share how utterly devastated they are by the shutdown.
World of Warcraft has been available in China since 2008 through a licensing agreement between Blizzard and NetEase. Regulations in the country require a foreign developer to partner with a Chinese firm in order to gain a license to operate in the region.
Blizzard announced in November that it is ending its partnership with NetEase after 14 years. The parties failed to reach an agreement to renew the licensing deal. As a result, Chinese players will not have access to Blizzard titles such as World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Diablo III, and Hearthstone.
“When I woke up, I still didn’t want to accept [it]” one player said on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, CNN reports. “I cried all night because the game went offline. I dreamed that I was crying in the middle of the class.”
Another player shared, “The rivers and lakes are far away, looking forward to meeting again. Goodbye Azeroth, goodbye World of Warcraft.
Simon Zhu, president of Global Investment and Partnership for NetEase shared on LinkedIn, “Only [a] few hours before Blizzard Games Servers shut down in China, and that is a very very big deal for players in China.”
“Today is such a sad moment to witness the server shutdown, and we don’t know how things will play out in the future,” Zhu adds. “The biggest victim would be players in China who live and breathe in those worlds. I also know how hard it will feel for those Blizzard developers who have spent all their passion and talent to build those amazing worlds. I hope all those valuable memories never fade away.”
The parting between Blizzard and NetEase has been tense. Blizzard said in November that it was unable to reach a new deal with its Chinese partner “that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees.”
NetEase claims that Blizzard’s proposal was “unequal” and “unfair.” Zhu adds, “One day, when what has happened behind the scene could be told, developers and gamers will have a whole new level of understanding of how much damage a jerk can make.”
Last week, NetEase removed a giant World of Warcraft statue situated in its headquarters in Hangzhou. The event was live streamed on social media seemingly in an attempt to throw shade at Blizzard.
NetEase revealed that Blizzard tried to extend the licensing agreement for six months. The Chinese firm described the attempt as “riding a donkey while looking for a horse,” meaning Blizzard was just trying to ride NetEase while looking for another partner.
Blizzard has not yet found a new partner within the Chinese market. Players have been allowed to download their player data ahead of the shutdown.
