SHANGHAI, April 21, 2014 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Blizzard
Entertainment, Inc. and NetEase, Inc. today announced an agreement
to license Blizzard Entertainment's Heroes of the
Storm™ to a NetEase, Inc. affiliate in
mainland China for a term of three
years.
Unveiled last November at BlizzCon®,
Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard's upcoming free-to-play,
online team brawler featuring iconic heroes from more than 20 years
of Blizzard gaming history. Gamers will be able to play some of
their favorite characters from the
Warcraft®,
StarCraft®, and
Diablo® universes, and team up with
friends to battle other teams online. Heroes of the Storm
features a variety of battlegrounds with multiple objectives that
affect strategy in unique ways. In addition, players will be able
to customize their heroes with a variety of skins, as well as
special mounts that help them cover ground on the battlefield more
quickly.
Heroes of the Storm will be the fourth Blizzard game
brought to China by both companies
since 2008. Currently, Blizzard and NetEase collaborate to bring
World of Warcraft®,
StarCraft® II, and
Hearthstone™: Heroes of
Warcraft™, and the
Battle.net® gaming platform to millions of
Chinese gamers. Today's announcement further strengthens the
partnership between Blizzard and NetEase, and reinforces both
companies' commitment to providing epic game experiences and
top-quality service for all Blizzard gamers in mainland
China.
"Heroes of the Storm offers our unique spin on a popular
online game genre, with iconic Blizzard heroes and multiple unique
battlegrounds that affect strategy and gameplay," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard
Entertainment. "We're pleased to expand our partnership with
NetEase to bring this game to Chinese players."
"We are very excited to be presenting another hotly-anticipated
Blizzard game to Chinese players," said William Ding, CEO and founder of NetEase, Inc.
He added, "We believe Chinese gamers will enjoy the amazing content
and quality of Heroes of the Storm and its focus on team
battles. We're working closely with Blizzard to prepare everything
needed for launching Heroes of the Storm in China, and we look forward to providing
players with the best possible service."
The official website in China
for Heroes of the Storm (www.heroesofthestorm.com.cn) is now
live. Registration for Heroes of the Storm closed beta
testing is now available for Chinese gamers via the website.
Details on closed beta testing, including the start date, will be
announced later.
To learn more about the Heroes of the Storm, please visit
the Chinese official website: www.heroesofthestorm.com.cn. Further
details about the game will be announced as development
progresses.
About Blizzard Entertainment
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft®and
the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises, Blizzard
Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision
Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of
entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's
most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment's track
record includes sixteen #1-selling games and multiple Game of the
Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net, is
one of the largest in the world, with millions of active
players.
About NetEase, Inc.
NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) is a leading Internet technology
company in China. Dedicated to
providing online services centered around content, community,
communication and commerce, NetEase develops and operates some of
China's most popular online games,
e-mail services, advertising services and web portals. In
partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, NetEase also operates one
of the most popular international online games in China, World of Warcraft®, as well as
StarCraft® II and Hearthstone™: Heroes of Warcraft™.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements:
Information in this press release that involves Blizzard
Entertainment's and NetEase's expectations, plans, intentions or
strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that
are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase generally use words such as
"outlook," "will," "could," "would," "might," "remains," "to be,"
"plans," "believes," "may," "expects," "intends," "anticipates,"
"estimate," "future," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "project,"
"remain," "scheduled," "set to," "subject to," "upcoming" and
similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements. Factors
that could cause Blizzard Entertainment's and/or NetEase's actual
future results to differ materially from those expressed in the
forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but
are not limited to, sales levels of Blizzard Entertainment's titles
generally, the popularity of Heroes of the Storm among
Chinese players and the effect of future expansion sets on the
game, shifts in consumer spending trends, the impact of the current
macroeconomic environment, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the
interactive game market, the risk that Shanghai EaseNet will not be
able to operate Heroes of the Storm, StarCraft II, World of
Warcraft or other games licensed by it from Blizzard Entertainment
for a period of time or permanently due to possible governmental
actions, the risk that Shanghai EaseNet or NetEase will be subject
to penalties or operating restrictions imposed by governmental
authorities in the PRC resulting from the operations of their
online games, including suspension of their Internet service or
other penalties, the risk that changes in Chinese government
regulation of the online game market may limit future growth of
Blizzard's or NetEase's revenue in China or cause revenue to decline; industry
competition and competition from other forms of entertainment,
rapid changes in technology, industry standards and consumer
preferences, including interest in specific genres such as
real-time strategy, action–role-playing and massively multiplayer
online games, protection of proprietary rights, litigation against
Blizzard Entertainment and/or NetEase, maintenance of relationships
with key personnel, customers, licensees, licensors, vendors and
third-party developers, including the ability to attract, retain
and develop key personnel and developers who can create high
quality "hit" titles, counterparty risks relating to customers,
licensees, licensors and manufacturers, domestic and international
economic, financial and political conditions and policies, foreign
exchange rates and tax rates, and the identification of suitable
future acquisition opportunities, and the other factors identified
in the risk factors section of Activision Blizzard's most recent
annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent quarterly reports on
Form 10-Q and of NetEase's most recent annual report on Form 20-F
and other filings and submissions with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release
are based upon information available to Blizzard Entertainment,
Activision Blizzard and NetEase, as the case may be, as of the date
of this release, and none of such parties assumes any obligation to
update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements believed to be true when made may ultimately prove to be
incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future
performance of Blizzard Entertainment, Activision Blizzard or
NetEase and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors,
some of which are beyond their respective control and may cause
actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
For further information contact:
Rob Hilburger
Vice President, Global Communications
Blizzard Entertainment
(+1) 949-242-8404
rhilburger@blizzard.com
Roger Sun
Public Relations Director
Blizzard China
(+86) 21-3133 0700
rsun@blizzard.com
Cassia Curran
NetEase, Inc.
(+86) 571-8985-2076
cassia@corp.netease.com
Brandi Piacente
NetEase Investor Relations
(+1) 212-481-2050
brandi@corp.netease.com
SOURCE NetEase, Inc.