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Blizzard Games will cease operations in China

Blizzard Entertainment, a major video game producer, will soon stop operating in China because it was unable to prolong its arrangement with the Chinese provider NetEase.

To continue playing games like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Starcraft, Chinese players will need to subscribe to one of the top China VPN services.

The announcement comes after a subsidiary of US video game giant Activision Blizzard said that NetEase had rejected an extension of the soon-to-expire 14-year licence arrangement that allows Blizzard titles to be sold in mainland China.

Only Diablo Immortal will be distributed independently. Starting on January 23rd, content from other providers will be blocked for consumers within the country’s boundaries.

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Disagreements between Blizzard and NetEase continue to escalate.

The video gaming service provider (opens in new tab) declared on January 17 through its Weibo profile that “unfortunately, NetEase is hesitant to prolong the service for six months based on the conditions of the existing relationship while we hunt for a new partner.”

The dissolution of the business partnership between NetEase and Blizzard Entertainment was originally announced in November of last year. The six-month extension would have given Blizzard time to find a new distribution partner. When approached, NetEase turned down the offer.

“Not giving up means we will keep trying to help as many people as possible. We hope you can see that this is far from over. We will keep looking for a like-minded nation to join forces with “Assuring their customers, Blizzard.

NetEase quickly responded that the proposed six-month extension contract was unfair and uneven because it was only presented a week earlier.

NetEase noted that in its opinion, “Blizzard’s plan, including today’s surprise announcement, is aggressive, vulgar, and commercially nonsensical.” The company compared the idea to “riding a mule while hunting for a horse, divorcing but still attempting to live together.”

The Chinese games distributor also shot down rumours that it wanted to acquire Blizzard’s IP addresses, saying it was committed to providing excellent customer service until the very end.

Games like World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft 3: Reforged, Diablo 3, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm, the Starcraft series, and Hearthstone are all in danger.

Blizzard Entertainment has stated that it is still on the lookout for a partner, but owing to the rigorous regulatory procedure, the games are not expected to release this year.

To ensure that their in-game progress remains intact until the next update, Blizzard developers advise Chinese players to back up all of their data immediately.

Why you need a Virtual Private Network in China

As was previously reported, gamers in mainland China who wish to continue playing their favourite Blizzard titles will need to subscribe to a VPN service.

Basically, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is IP address masking software. Why? Because your web traffic will appear to originate from one of its numerous overseas data centres. Then, within seconds, a gamer may make their Internet Service Provider (ISP) believe they are in an entirely new nation.

Even in terms of raw performance, a virtual private network optimised for gaming has certain advantages. Ability to change servers can aid players in several ways, including avoiding ISP throttling and achieving better pings.

However, aside from this, it is also suggested to use such security software on a daily basis. In places like China, it’s practically a must of daily life.

For example, to access the extensive blacklist of blocked websites, a faked surfing location is required. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is required to avoid internet monitoring since it encrypts all outbound traffic from a device.