Blizzard and Chinese mobile developer NetEase have reportedly pulled an unannounced World of Warcraft mobile game after three years in development.
One of many new projects Blizzard has in the works (opens in a new tab), the MMORPG would have been set in the World of Warcraft universe, but would have a different time period than the main game. As revealed in a report by Bloomberg (opens in a new tab), NetEase and Blizzard have canceled the project after a dispute over financial terms.
The removed game would not have been a simple adaptation of the existing MMORPG World of Warcraft for PC, but rather a spin-off designed for mobile devices. The project appears to have been completely abandoned now, with NetEase disbanding the game's creative team of over 100 developers.
Azeroth is on the move
The cancellation of the unannounced project will not mark the end of the franchise on mobile. It wasn't until May that Blizzard announced Warcraft Arclight Rumble, an upcoming action-strategy game set in a stylized version of the Warcraft universe. It seems to heavily mimic the PvP and PvE gameplay of the hit Clash Royale.
Blizzard also has other plans for Warcraft mobile games. Last year, CEO Bobby Kotick said (opens in a new tab) that the publisher had "made several free Warcraft experiences on mobile devices and they are now in advanced development." He added that the publisher wanted to "create opportunities for existing players and new fans to experience the Warcraft universe in entirely new ways."
Arclight Rumble and this now-cancelled World of Warcraft spin-off were likely the forerunners of this initiative. But those probably aren't the only projects Blizzard is secretly toying with to expand into the Chinese gaming market. Data analyst Statista (opens in a new tab) estimates that China has one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world, having reached 660 million mobile gamers by early 2022. Blizzard will likely want to take advantage of this clientele, which is often left untapped by Western studios.
The publisher has already had substantial success doing just that. Diablo Immortal was released to poor critical reception, but it was a commercial triumph. It generated more than $100 million in less than two months and ranked as the most downloaded app in China in the first two days of its launch, according to market analyst Sensor Tower. On top of that, Activision Blizzard's latest quarterly earnings report (opens in a new tab) revealed that "more than half of player accounts in the game to date are new to Blizzard," including a new base of players in its ecosystem.
But there's no telling how it will try to replicate that success in the future. The collaboration of the American publisher with NetEase opened the door to the Chinese market. The schism between them could now disrupt future releases, just like it led to the cancellation of this unannounced World of Warcraft game. The least we can hope for is no more mentions of Winnie-the-Pooh, which initially saw Diablo Immortal delayed in China.