On January 17, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it had asked NetEase to temporarily extend the partnership, but was refused. Soon, the Chinese company issued a response statement in which it criticized the terms of the deal and the developers themselves.
NetEase wrote on WeChat that last week Blizzard approached her with an offer to sign a contract for six months, while the developers offered other publishers from China a three-year partnership. Also during the negotiations, Blizzard made it clear that it was going to look for a new partner during these six months.
According to NetEase, the offer was outrageous. The Chinese company compared Blizzard to a man who takes everything he wants and “rides a donkey until he finds a horse.” According to her, Blizzard did not take into account the interests of either NetEase itself or gamers.