Netease, the publisher that distributes Activision Blizzard games including World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2 and Diablo 3 in China, tore down a WoW Orc statue outside its office to protest a plan to renew their current partnership agreement. Live footage shows volunteers smashing an MMORPG statue with sledgehammers and offering them a free Netease drink in return.
Activision Blizzard previously announced that its partnership with Netease would end on January 23, so games like World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, and Heroes of the Storm will not be available in China starting January 24. Activision Blizzard then offered to temporarily extend Netease’s contract by six months while it searched for a new long-term publishing partner in China.
Netease rejected the deal, calling it “disgusting and disgusting, inappropriate and commercially illogical.” Netease also said that Activision Blizzard makes “endless and exorbitant demands, accepts free rides, and makes the most of it without liability.”
Now, in another apparent protest against Activision Blizzard’s proposals, volunteers supposedly affiliated with Netease have destroyed a World of Warcraft orc statue that previously stood outside their main office.
Images captured by the TikTok channel ChaijingNDS and originally posted by WoWHead show people smashing the statue with hammers and drinking drinks with the Netease logo on it. The drinks appear to be a type of green tea, apparently related to a phrase that in China is associated with an insult to describe a manipulative young woman.
In response to Netease’s rejection, Blizzard China released a statement saying, “It is regrettable that NetEase is unwilling to extend our game service for another six months under existing terms, as we are looking for a new partner.”
Elsewhere, Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard is facing opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission, while officials at World of Warcraft joint development studio Proletariat have refused to acknowledge voluntarily a new union of employees.
Source : PC Gamesn
