World of Warcraft, Diablo and Overwatch 2 banned in China

BLIZZARD will suspend the services of its ongoing live service games in China following a dispute with the distributor.

A number of popular games and series will be discontinued in China, including World of Warcraft, Diablo Immortal and Overwatch 2.

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China is one of the world’s leading gaming markets due to its high population.

Despite this, in a statement released by Blizzard today (November 17), services in China will be discontinued at the end of January 2023.

The statement said: “The two parties have not reached an agreement to extend the agreements that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees.

“The agreements expire in January 2023.”

New sales of Blizzard games will be suspended in the region over the coming day, although details are yet to be finalized.

However, planned releases such as World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Hearthstone: Wrath of the Lich King, and Overwatch 2 Season 2 will be released before the end of the year.

Blizzard President Mike Ybarra thanked the company’s Chinese customers who have enjoyed its games to date.

He also stated that he hopes to reach an agreement with another company to continue the services in China in the future.

He says, “We are immensely grateful for the passion the Chinese community has shown over the nearly 20 years we have been bringing games to China through NetEase and other partners.

“Their enthusiasm and creativity inspire us.

“We’re looking at alternatives to bring our games back to players in the future.”

Despite Blizzard’s search for alternative distributors, it’s likely the games won’t be available in China, at least for a short time.

China is known for some of the strictest online laws in the world and also for restricting content in the region.

Many services, including Google products, have been suspended there, and movies and games require heavy editing to meet government standards.

In 2021, President Xi Jinping banned all games depicting gay or Nazi characters.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN.

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