Certain games will no longer be available at end of license with NetEase on Janvier 23, 2023
IRVINE, Californie.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 16, 2022–
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that it will be suspending most Blizzard game services in mainland China due to the expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase, Inc. sur Janvier 23, 2023. Ceci comprend World of Warcraft®, Hearthstone®, Warcraft® III: Reforgé, Cartel®, le StarCraft® série, Diablo III®, et Les Héros de la Tempête®. Diablo Immortel® co-development and publishing is covered under a separate agreement between the two companies.
Blizzard Entertainment has had licensing agreements with NetEase since 2008, covering the publication of these Blizzard titles in China. The two parties have not reached a deal to renew the agreements that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees, and the agreements are set to expire in Janvier 2023.
We will suspend new sales in the coming days and Chinese players will be receiving details of how this will work soon. Upcoming releases for World of Warcraft: Vol draconique, Hearthstone: March of the Lich King, and season 2 of Cartel 2 will proceed later this year.
“We’re immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we’ve been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners," mentionné Mike Ybarra, Président, Blizzard Entertainment. “Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us, and we are looking for alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future.”
Sur Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Mieux connu pour ses univers de jeux vidéo emblématiques, dont Warcraft®, Cartel®, Diablo®, et StarCraft®, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), une division de Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), est un développeur et éditeur de premier plan d'expériences de divertissement. Blizzard Entertainment a créé certains des jeux les plus acclamés par la critique et définissant le genre de l'industrie au cours de la dernière 30 years, avec un palmarès qui comprend plusieurs prix du jeu de l'année. Blizzard Entertainment engage des dizaines de millions de joueurs à travers le monde avec des titres disponibles sur PC via Battle.net®, Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
Mise en garde concernant les déclarations prospectives: The statements contained herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements including, but not limited to statements of our plans and objectives, including those related to releases of products or services. Activision Blizzard, Inc. generally uses words such as “outlook," "prévoir,y compris les informations relatives aux attentes d'EA sous la rubrique "Perspectives commerciales au mois d'août," "pourrait,y compris les informations relatives aux attentes d'EA sous la rubrique "Perspectives commerciales au mois d'août," "aurait,” “to be,y compris les informations relatives aux attentes d'EA sous la rubrique "Perspectives commerciales au mois d'août,” “aims,» « croit,y compris les informations relatives aux attentes d'EA sous la rubrique "Perspectives commerciales au mois d'août," "force,» « s'attend,» « a l'intention,” “seeks,» « anticipe,y compris les informations relatives aux attentes d'EA sous la rubrique "Perspectives commerciales au mois d'août," "avenir,” “positioned," "potentiel," "projet,” “remain,” “scheduled,” “set to,” “subject to,” “upcoming,” and the negative version of these words and other similar words and expressions to help identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to business and economic risks, reflect management’s current expectations, estimates, and projections about our business, and are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict.
Nous prévenons qu'un certain nombre de facteurs importants, dont beaucoup sont hors de notre contrôle, could cause our actual future results and other future circumstances to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the expected effect of the expiration of the agreement with NetEase, Inc.; the effect of the announcement or pendency of the proposed transaction with Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") on our business relationships, résultats d'exploitation, et les affaires en général; risks that the proposed transaction with Microsoft disrupts our current plans and operations and potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the proposed transaction with Microsoft; the global impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and other macroeconomic factors (y compris, without limitation, the potential for significant short- and long-term global unemployment and economic weakness and a resulting impact on global discretionary spending; potential strain on the retailers, distributors, and manufacturers who sell our physical products to customers and the platform providers on whose networks and consoles certain of our games are available; effects on our ability to release our content in a timely manner and with effective quality control; effects on our ability to prevent cyber-security incidents while our workforce is dispersed; effects on the operations of our professional esports leagues; and macroeconomic impacts arising from the long duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including labor shortages and supply chain disruptions); our ability to consistently deliver popular, high-quality titles in a timely manner, which has been made more difficult as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; our ability to attract, retenir, and motivate skilled personnel; risks and uncertainties of conducting business outside the United States (the “U.S.”), including the need for regulatory approval to operate; risks relating to behavior of our distributors, détaillants, development, and licensing partners, or other affiliated third parties that may harm our brands or business operations; our reliance on tools and technologies owned by third parties; outages, disruptions or degradations in our services, des produits, and/or technological infrastructure; data breaches, fraudulent activity, and other cybersecurity risks; increasing regulation in key territories; regulation relating to the Internet, including potential harm from laws impacting “net neutrality;” regulation concerning data privacy, including China’s Personal Information Protection Law; insolvency or business failure of any of our business partners, which has been magnified as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; and the other factors included in Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Décembre 31, 2021, filed with the AMÉRICANO. Commission de Sécurité et d'Echanges.
The forward-looking statements contained herein are based on information available to Activision Blizzard, Inc. as of the date of this filing, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ from those expressed in forward-looking statements. En tant que tel, you should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained herein primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, résultats d'exploitation, prospects, stratégie, and financial needs. These statements are not guarantees of our future performance and are subject to risks, incertitudes, et d'autres facteurs, some of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
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Andrew Reynolds[email protected]
Source: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
