In April 2022, an eight-month freeze on the issuance of gaming licenses was completed in China. Despite this, foreign developers still cannot get permission to release projects in China.
A user of the ResetEra forum under the nickname Ceerious noticed that the last time the National Press and Publications Administration (NPPA) issued licenses to games not from China on June 28, 2021 – 511 days ago.
Ceerious also pointed out that this situation threatens problems for Blizzard. According to the NPPA rules, the company will have to re-obtain licenses for its games when it finds a new Chinese publisher to replace NetEase.