If you currently reside in China, you’re probably experiencing problems when logging into your Overwatch or World of Warcraft account. You’re might be left wondering if the problem is on your end or if the games are banned in the country.
So, here’s a quick breakdown of what happened between Blizzard Entertainment China and NetEase and if Overwatch and WoW are really banned in China.
Are Overwatch and WoW banned in China?
The short answer is, no. Overwatch 2 and WoW are not banned in China, but their servers are shut down.
On Jan. 23, Blizzard’s licensing agreements with NetEase expired and Blizzard shut down the servers. This means all Blizzard games, including WoW, Hearthstone, Warcraft III: Reforged, Overwatch, the StarCraft series, Diablo III, and Heroes of the Storm are no longer available. The only Blizzard-owned game available in China is Diablo Immortal as this game is under a completely different contract between the two companies.
Why did Overwatch and WoW shut down in China?
This started back in Nov. 2022 when Blizzard first announced it was leaving China after a failed attempt to reach a deal and renew their agreement. Although Blizzard tried to find different service providers until Jan. 23, it was unable to find a service provider in line with Blizzard’s “operating principles and commitments to players and employees.”
More recently, Blizzard approached NetEase once again, trying to strike a deal for a six-month extension of the current agreement. As a response to this, NetEase dissolved the Bizzard team and demolished an iconic orc statue.
The only silver lining is that Chinese players can still play their favorite Blizzard games but on Taiwanese, NA, or EU servers. For this, they will have to create fresh accounts.
