Blizzard Entertainment will suspend all its video games in mainland China on Jan. 23 following NetEase denying a six-month extension of its initial agreement, the developer said today in a press release<\/a>.<\/p>
“We approached NetEase again last week for assistance in exploring a six-month extension of our existing agreement … to allow everyone to continue playing without disruption and for Blizzard to continue exploring a reasonable and long-term path forward in the China region,” it said in a press release, according to a translation<\/a> from Wowhead. “Unfortunately, NetEase did not accept our proposal.”<\/p>
The deal between the companies was coming to an end, but Blizzard had asked for this six-month extension while looking for another publisher to continue operating in China. NetEase’s local operating team had, however, already been mostly disbanded<\/a>. Only a dozen employees remained to provide basic customer service and technical support. <\/p>