Tag: netease
Control designer founds Anchorpoint Studio with Netease
A new studio called AnchorPoint Studios has been announced, founded by Paul Ehreth in collaboration with Netease Games.
The studio is set to create AAA Action Adventure games, although there’s no word on what they’re working exactly right now. Ehreth, if you didn’t know, was the lead designer behind Control. He also had special thanks credits on Halo 5, so there’s some serious credibility behind the wheel at this new venture.
AnchorPoint Studios will have two studios, one in Barcelona and the other in Seattle. This stands out not just as a new studio with some heavy hitters ebhind it, but also as the latest example of Netease’s expansion into Western Game Development.
China court documents incorrectly showed Activision was being sued by former partner NetEase
On April 24th, 2023, reports circulated that Blizzard Entertainment was being sued by former Chinese publishing partner NetEase after servers shutdown in January when the two failed to reach a continuation agreement. However, a day later, it turns out that NetEase was in fact not suing the company — instead, as reported by PC Gamer, the suit is being brought by a single individual who is known to be a serial litigant with no history with NetEase. It appears the court documents listened NetEase erroneously; the company does not have anything to do with the lawsuit. Originally, MMO-focused gaming website Wowhead noticed the suit.
Since this story was originally published, those court documents have been re-published to reflect that the suits are coming from a Yang Jun; all mentions of NetEase have been removed.
“We haven’t received the lawsuit yet, but we are confident we aren’t in breach of any licensing agreements. The terms NetEase appears to be complaining about reflect standard industry practice and have been mutually-beneficial for years,” an Activision rep wrote in a statement to Engadget prior to the discovery that NetEase was not involved in the lawsuit. “While this persistent campaign by one former partner is disappointing and puzzling, it’s important to note that we have enjoyed nearly two decades of positive experiences operating in China, and remain committed to serving players and protecting their interests.”
Blizzard and NetEase were successful partners for the past 14 years before negotiations broke down to renew the long-term licensing agreement. This led to a complete cessation of all Blizzard games and services in the region, including popular properties like World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Starcraft and Diablo III, among others. Millions of Chinese players lost access to their accounts and related data. Some started fresh with new accounts in other regions, but most (112 million people) opted for a refund.
The agreement did not end amicably, with reports of NetEase staffers tearing down the Blizzard offices and livestreaming the destruction of a World of Warcraft statue. NetEase’s president of global investment and partnership, Simon Zhu, also seemed to call out a high-ranking Blizzard staffer as a “jerk” in a LinkedIn post. Despite the seeming animosity, though, the lawsuit does not come from NetEase.
Update, 4/24/23, 3:30PM ET: This story and its headline have been updated to indicate that this lawsuit hasn’t been confirmed yet, as Activision itself nor Engadget has seen a copy of the lawsuit yet.
Update, 4/25/23, 11:30AM ET: A full statement provided by Activision has been added to the story.
Update, 4/25/23, 2:35PM ET: This story and its headline has been updated to reflect the recent development that NetEase was erroneously named in this lawsuit.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/china-court-documents-incorrectly-showed-activision-was-being-sued-by-former-partner-netease-183534200.html?src=rss
Blizzard is reportedly facing a $43.5 million lawsuit from NetEase over refunds
Following their split earlier this year, NetEase is reportedly suing Blizzard over the refunds for games no longer available in China.
Last year it was announced that Blizzard would be pulling games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Overwatch from China due to it and NetEase being unable to come to an agreement on a new contract. Services for these titles, and other games like Warcraft 3, the StarCraft series, and Diablo 3, all went offline January 23, ending the 14 year agreement between the two companies. Now, according to a new report from Sina Technology (thanks, WoWHead), Blizzard could be facing a $43.5 million lawsuit for a number of claims.
The primary claim from NetEase is that Blizzard apparently promised refunds to over one million players that wanted them when servers for games like WoW, Overwatch, and more went offline in China. However, NetEase apparently had to cover these refunds as Blizzard allegedly had not covered them. NetEase is also looking for compensation over unsold merchandise inventory and undeveloped games, as the company apparently had to make a “huge deposit for several games in advance, while Blizzard did not refund the relevant deposit when the relevant games were not developed.”
The gloves come off as NetEase sues Blizzard for $44 million
NetEase Inc (NTES) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript
NetEase Inc (NASDAQ: NTES) Q4 2022 earnings call dated Feb. 23, 2023 Corporate Participants: Margaret Shi — Director, Investor Relations Charles Yang — Chief Financial Officer Analysts: Alicia Yap — Citigroup — Analyst Yang Bai — CICC — Analyst […]
The post NetEase Inc (NTES) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript first appeared on AlphaStreet.
Chinese WoW Servers Shut Down After 14 Years Following Expiration Of NetEase Agreement
Fans of Blizzard games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch in China are in mourning following the shutdown of the majority of Blizzard game services in the country, after Activision Blizzard and China’s NetEase Games failed to renew their licensing agreement.
The two companies had been partners for 14 years, with Blizzard’s MMORPG having operated in the country for a few years under a separate company prior to Blizzard and NetEase’s partnership. The handoff between WoW’s former operator in China and NetEase in 2009 was the first time WoW shut down in the region, though it was for only a few months.
So it begins.
It’s funny that here we call this file ‘electronic urn’, and the process of generating this file ‘cremation’.
Sadly, players won’t be able to gather in the city and wait for that final moment together like last time, b/c this service will go down with the servers. pic.twitter.com/k04HqDfiMF— Peter Yu (@Peterodox) January 18, 2023
Activision Blizzard announced late last year that it would not be renewing its contract with NetEase, with game services set to end on January 23. That time has now come to pass, as WoW players in China have been forced to download nearly two decades worth of character data in the hope that the game’s servers will one day return and their characters can be restored.
NetEase staff take hammers to World Of Warcraft statue, calls Blizzard “unseemly and commercially illogical”
Blizzard’s 14 year relationship with Chinese publisher NetEase will come to an end on January 23rd, at which time World Of Warcraft will go offline for millions of Chinese players. As the date approaches, NetEase have livestreamed staff dismantling a giant WoW axe statue at their offices with hammers, and called Blizzard’s actions “brash, unseemly and commercially illogical.”
Activision Blizzard deal “rude and unreasonable” says China’s Netease
Netease, the Chinese publisher for games such as World of Warcraft and Diablo 3, says proposals from Activision Blizzard to temporarily extend their partnership are “rude and unreasonable,” accusing the company behind Call of Duty of trying to take a “free ride.”
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