An MMORPG based on World of Warcraft was in the works, but Activision-Blizzard reportedly nipped the project in the bud due to a disagreement with NetEase.
Last May, Bobby Kotick claimed that several World of Warcraft mobile games were in development. Among them was an MMORPG, a kind of spin-off of the PC version, which was in co-development with NetEasethe Chinese giant and long-time companion of Activision-Blizzard.
Not yet announced, it would already be cancelled
But here’s the thing: according to Bloomberg, there’s been some bad blood between the two parties and the agreement binding them to this MMO project has simply been cancelledputting an end to the development. The reason for this disagreement? It is a financial dispute that “forced” NetEase to take back its entire creative staff deployed on the game, that is to say a hundred developers, thus signing the death of the development.
Bloomberg points out that this is the second project of its kind to be cancelled. Activision-Blizzard’s love affair with NetEase may be on the rocks This could be a problem for Activision, which benefits greatly from NetEase’s strength to reach the Chinese market, one of the most important in the world.
For the time being, then, Activision-Blizzard only has the controversial Diablo Immortal to capitalize on on the mobile market, but it’s doing pretty well so far.
