Blizzard Games Could Return To China With New NetEase Deal

In 2022, game studio Blizzard and Chinese internet provider and gaming giant NetEase failed to come to an agreement, ending their 14-year relationship and effectively pulling the former's marquee titles from Chinese markets. It was a tough blow to both parties, whose partnership helped bring huge titles like World of Warcraft, StarCraft 2, and most recently, Overwatch 2, to a massive region of the world. Negotiations reportedly fell through due to messy communications between the two, when at one point NetEase made a "conciliatory gesture" to sway Chinese regulators on Microsoft's then-pending acquisition of Activision-Blizzard. Activision-Blizzard's reps mistook the offer…