Now, the discussions appear to have gotten more acrimonious. In separate statements at the time, both sides said they were unable to reach a new agreement on key terms, without giving further details. Those deals had covered the publication of several popular Blizzard titles in mainland China, including “World of Warcraft,” “Hearthstone,” and “Diablo III,” since 2008. Last November, however, Blizzard and NetEase announced they would not renew licensing agreements that were set to expire this month. The suspension follows a bitter dispute between Blizzard, a unit of Activision Blizzardįoreign publishers must work with local partners to offer video games in China.

Kai Pfaffenbach/Reutersīlizzard tells China's 'World of Warcraft' fans to back up data as it seeks new partnerĪnother player described “World of Warcraft” as “my first love.” The Gamescom convention, Europe's largest video games trade fair, runs from August 5 to August 9. World of Warcraft gaming booths are seen at the Gamescom 2015 fair in Cologne, Germany August 5, 2015.

I dreamed that I was crying in the middle of the class.” “I cried all night in my sleep because the game went offline. “When I woke up, I still didn’t want to accept ,” one user said on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, on Tuesday. That was underscored in recent days, as Chinese fans expressed their disbelief over the loss of their longtime pastime in social media posts. Many gamers around the world have grown up with the smash hit, including in China. “World of Warcraft,” also known as “WoW,” is a hugely popular online multiplayer game that allows users to fight monsters and journey through expeditions in the medieval world of Azeroth. The company’s services in China were suspended at midnight local time on Tuesday, marking the end of an era for fans, after a licensing agreement with longtime local partner NetEase Millions of players in China have lost access to the iconic “World of Warcraft” franchise and other popular video games, as Blizzard Entertainment’s servers in the country went offline after two decades.

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