Difference between revisions of "Katie Zhao"

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= Blizzard & NetEase drama =
 
= Blizzard & NetEase drama =
 
== Overview ==
 
== Overview ==
−
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment] has had licensing agreements with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetEase NetEase] since 2008, covering the publication of Blizzard games in China on a separate server. After failing to reach a consensual deal, the two companies did not renew the contract at the end of 2022, ending the 14-year partnership<ref>Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html </ref>. Starting from the 23rd of January, 2023, millions of gamers in China can no longer enjoy Blizzard franchises. That includes the following games<ref>Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html </ref>:
+
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blizzard_Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment] has had licensing agreements with [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetEase NetEase] since 2008, covering the publication of Blizzard games in China on a separate server. After failing to reach a consensual deal, the two companies did not renew the contract at the end of 2022, ending the 14-year partnership<ref>Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html </ref>. Starting from the 23rd of January, 2023, millions of gamers in China can no longer enjoy Blizzard franchises. That includes the following games<ref>"ibid" </ref>:
 
*Overwatch
 
*Overwatch
 
*Hearthstone
 
*Hearthstone

Revision as of 19:45, 10 February 2023

Blizzard & NetEase drama

Overview

Blizzard Entertainment has had licensing agreements with NetEase since 2008, covering the publication of Blizzard games in China on a separate server. After failing to reach a consensual deal, the two companies did not renew the contract at the end of 2022, ending the 14-year partnership[1]. Starting from the 23rd of January, 2023, millions of gamers in China can no longer enjoy Blizzard franchises. That includes the following games[2]:

  • Overwatch
  • Hearthstone
  • World of Warcraft
  • Diablo
  • Starcraft
  • Heroes of the Storm

Blizzard games going offline in China is not only a dispute between two industry leads on the opposite sides of the globe, but it also means erasing progress data that players have been investing in for years. Many devotees of the popular game took to social media networks to bemoan the loss, including mainstream celebrities such as Joker Xue, who posted on Weibo saying “Don’t know what the hell Bobby Kotick is doing, but Blizzard is still the best real-time strategy creator in my heart. I also believe it will come back. I hope we can still meet in the lost temple and big game hunters. Goodbye young us…” (machine-translated). Sentiments like this are prevalent as many uncertainties are still in the air.

The Dissolution

In Activitsion Blizzard’s 2021 Third Quarter Financial Results Report Report, their long-term publishing partner NetEase’s name was not mentioned in the document, but replaced with “a third party covering the publication of several Blizzard titles in China”[3]. The China market was noted to be only 3% of Activision Blizzard’s consolidated net revenues, which can come off as downplaying NetEase’s contribution, creating adverse sentiments[4]. The report also prophesied that “regarding the renewal of [the] agreements [expiring in January 2023], a mutually-satisfactory deal may not be reached.”[5] The relationship between the two companies was already at tense back then.

On November 16 2022, Blizzard announced in a press release that it will be suspending most Blizzard game services in mainland China due to expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase on January 2023[6]. Soon after, NetEase issue their own announcement, saying it has been doing its best to negotiate with Activition Blizzard, hoping to advance the contract renewal.

On January 19, 2023 Blizzard released a lengthy statement stating that they re-sought to NetEase about a possible six month extension to their partnership, while “exploring a reasonable and long-trm path forward in the China region.”[7] The release ends with notes on that Blizzard is continuing to search for a new local licensing partner, saying they “have started talks with a number of potential partners who share our player-first values.”[8] NetEase rejected the extension deal and posted a fiery response to clarify that they are not at fault for the breakdown of negotiations. NetEase listed a number of financial and intellectual property disputes that contributed to the failed negotiations, and condemned the fact that Blizzard was negotiating with other companies on a three-yera contract period. They stated, “considering the non-reciprocity, unfairness and other conditions attached to the cooperation, therefore, the parties could not reach an agreement in the end.”[9]

NetEase Cutting Ties - Literally

In response to the incident, the NetEase social media team hosted a live stream for 30,000 people where employees destroyed a Blizzard statue outside their Blizzard office, as a part of dismantling the work[10]. During the livestream, they also showcased the newest drink available at their coffee station: the Blizzard “Green Tea”[11], which is a modern Chinese slur referring to a manipulative person who tries to appear wholesome, innocent, or traditional, but is decidedly not so.

While Chinese social media may play a different set of rules than Western brands do online, calling their past partner a derogatory slur and racking their physical representations clearly marks the “breakup” unsavlagable.

Ethical Implication

After the decision to end the partnership came to light, in a letter to users in December, 2022 (machine translated), John Hight, general manager of Blizzard’s Warcraft franchise, said the team was “working hard to develop a function that will allow you to save your game characters, props, and progress.”[12] The company tried to reassure players that they won’t lose how far they have gone in the game. However, as the date came closer to the shutdown, many players were still struggling with the tool trying back up their data. Blizzard failed to make sure the players’ years of digital lives in Warcraft are safely archived. NetEase spectated this issue and responded to disappointed players saying the tool was unilaterally developed by Blizzard, such as it wasn’t tested by NetEase for security reasons, denying any responsibility regarding the loss of progress data[13].

The situation not only adversely affect players in the region, but also staffs. The ~100 person team that maintained the various services on Blizzard’s behalf is being rapidly downsized. There will only be a 10-people skeleton group remaining to take care of technical support and customer service relating to the switch off, but they don’t expect to be there longer than 6 months[14]. The rest of the employees will be either laid off or transferred to a different team within NetEase.

The sudden announcement of the contract coming to an end caught both players and staffs off guard. They have to react hastily to obtain their needs — for players, their game data; for staffs, their jobs and wages. Between the official announcement of extension denial and the shutdown date, Blizzard only gave these stakeholders less than two weeks to scrape everything together, including its internal engineers to develop an archival system for the Chinese players to back up their Warcraft data. The switch-off was messy and stress-inducing due to the short amount of time given. From a utilitarian perspective, providing a larger time frame between ending the contract and shutting down the games could make the transition smoother for all.

Source Cited

  1. ↑ Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html
  2. ↑ "ibid"
  3. ↑ Activision Blizzard announces Third Quarter 2022 financial results. Activision Blizzard. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-blizzard-announces-third-quarter-2022-financial
  4. ↑ Activision Blizzard announces Third Quarter 2022 financial results. Activision Blizzard. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-blizzard-announces-third-quarter-2022-financial
  5. ↑ Activision Blizzard announces Third Quarter 2022 financial results. Activision Blizzard. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/activision-blizzard-announces-third-quarter-2022-financial
  6. ↑ Blizzard Entertainment and Netease suspending game services in China. Activision Blizzard. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://investor.activision.com/news-releases/news-release-details/blizzard-entertainment-and-netease-suspending-game-services
  7. ↑ Archimtiros. (2023, January 18). Blizzard china update - extension denied, Netease dissolves Blizzard team. Wowhead. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.wowhead.com/news/blizzard-china-update-extension-denied-netease-dissolves-blizzard-team-331010
  8. ↑ Archimtiros. (2023, January 18). Blizzard china update - extension denied, Netease dissolves Blizzard team. Wowhead. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.wowhead.com/news/blizzard-china-update-extension-denied-netease-dissolves-blizzard-team-331010
  9. ↑ 网易公司就《暴雪对国服玩家社区的更新说明》的说明. 微信公众平台. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/J5-YM7_-s2ZumohzbZUYUQ
  10. ↑ Archimtiros. (2023, January 18). Netease response to Blizzard Entertainment - local orc statue torn down. Wowhead. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.wowhead.com/news/netease-response-to-blizzard-entertainment-local-orc-statue-torn-down-331041
  11. ↑ Archimtiros. (2023, January 18). Netease response to Blizzard Entertainment - local orc statue torn down. Wowhead. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.wowhead.com/news/netease-response-to-blizzard-entertainment-local-orc-statue-torn-down-331041
  12. ↑ Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html
  13. ↑ Toh, M. (2022, December 14). Blizzard tells China's 'World of warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partner | CNN business. CNN. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/tech/blizzard-netease-transition-world-of-warcraft-china-intl-hnk/index.html
  14. ↑ Batchelor, J. (2023, January 16). Netease reportedly disbands team behind Blizzard Games in China. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.gamesindustry.biz/netease-reportedly-disbands-team-behind-blizzard-games-in-china
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