After one year of divorce, are NetEase and Blizzard going to remarry?
On April 9th, "Blizzard Returns" briefly topped the Weibo hot search list. It is reported that there are rumors that Blizzard will officially announce its return this week. In addition, rumors also show that NetEase CEO Ding Lei and Blizzard's new CEO Johanna Faries will meet. Subsequently, multiple media outlets reported that NetEase and Blizzard National Service are expected to officially announce the resumption of cooperation within this week.
Regarding this, the Securities Times reporter sought confirmation from NetEase, but as of the time of publication, no response has been received. However, according to reports from other sources, the return of Blizzard's national server is mainly the responsibility of NetEase's Thunderfire Business Group, which is in a highly confidential stage. The resumption of cooperation between the two sides will be officially announced on April 10th.
Boosted by this news, NetEase's stock price rose by over 4% today, closing at HKD 157.5 per share, up 4.1%, with a total market value of HKD 507.7 billion.
According to public information, the dispute over the copyright licensing contract for calculator software between Shanghai NetEase Network Technology Development Co., Ltd. and Blizzard Entertainment Co., Ltd., which was originally scheduled to be held on January 18 this year, has been cancelled. The Pudong New Area People's Court in Shanghai stated that the reason for the cancellation of the hearing is that the plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit.
NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment formed an alliance in 2008. In August of that year, NetEase reached an agency agreement with Blizzard Entertainment and obtained exclusive operating rights for StarCraft II and Warcraft III. Since then, NetEase has successively obtained the operation rights in Chinese Mainland for Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft, Diablo III, Hearthstone Legend, Watch Pioneer, Storm Hero and other games, and the agency agreement has been successfully renewed.
Benefiting from the vast game market in Chinese Mainland, the initial cooperation between NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment was very successful. The Chinese market accounted for a large share of Blizzard Entertainment's global revenue, and Blizzard and NetEase's subsequent global synchronous operation model also allowed Blizzard Games to gain more market.
With the development of self-developed games and leveraging the popularity and reputation of Blizzard Entertainment's series, as well as summarizing relevant research and operation experience, NetEase has gradually surpassed Shanda and established itself as the second largest game manufacturer in China.
However, the two sides have changed forever after 14 years of cooperation. On November 17, 2022, Activision Blizzard's subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment announced that most of Blizzard's game services in Chinese Mainland will be suspended because the existing licensing agreement with NetEase will expire on January 23, 2023. The statement states that the two parties have not reached a renewal agreement that complies with Blizzard's operational principles and commitments to players and employees, which will expire in January 2023.
Blizzard Entertainment President Mike YBarra said, "For nearly 20 years, we have been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners, and we deeply appreciate the enthusiasm and creativity shown by the Chinese community. Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for alternative solutions to bring our games back to players in the future."
NetEase Chairman and CEO Ding Lei previously responded to the suspension of cooperation with Blizzard Entertainment, saying, "We really hope to continue representing Blizzard Games and have put in a lot of effort, but the negotiation difficulty is far beyond expectations. Blizzard has proposed key core terms, including long-term operations and player rights, which we cannot accept."
From a performance perspective, the termination of the cooperation with Blizzard did not have a significant impact on NetEase. At that time, in announcing the termination of cooperation with Blizzard, NetEase stated that the net revenue and net profit of these authorized Blizzard games for the first nine months of 2021 and 2022 accounted for a relatively low percentage of NetEase's total net revenue and net profit, only in the lower single digits. The expiration of these authorizations will not have a significant impact on NetEase's financial performance.
According to NetEase's latest performance report, in 2023, NetEase's net revenue from gaming and related value-added services was RMB 81.6 billion (USD 11.5 billion), and in 2022 it was RMB 74.6 billion. Among them, the net income from online games accounted for approximately 92.9%, compared to 92.5% in 2022.
Since the two parted ways, there have been frequent rumors of Blizzard's return, and Blizzard's search for other agents has always been highly regarded by the market. News has been circulating about Tencent, miHoYo, and others.
Now, after more than a year of wandering around, Blizzard may once again join hands with NetEase. Just this time, will Chinese players and the Chinese market still pay with real gold and silver?