In a press release Wednesday (Hong Kong Time) Microsoft and NetEase have announced a new partnership that will see Blizzard games return to the Chinese Market.

NetEase was the publisher of Blizzard games in China from 2008-2023 until Microsoft purchased Activision-Blizzard which caused a bit of a feud between the 2 companies citing disagreement over intellectual property control which ultimate meant games like World Of Warcraft and Overwatch left the country.

In the press release Blizzard Entertainment President Johanna Faries says:

“We at Blizzard are thrilled to reestablish our partnership with NetEase and to work together, with deep appreciation for the collaboration between our teams, to deliver legendary gaming experiences to players in China”

Also as part of the deal, the companies announced that they are working together to explore bringing new NetEase titles to Microsoft’s Xbox platforms.

NetEase is the second biggest Chinese game publisher next to Tencent. It will be interesting to see what comes about this deal for both Xbox and NetEase moving forward.