March 28, 2024

Web and Technology News

As expats fled China’s zero-COVID, this developer built a sci-fi game for NetEase

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, foreigners have been leaving China in droves to escape the country’s strict “zero-COVID” restrictions, which had limited people’s domestic and overseas travel for nearly three years until rules began to relax recently. So when NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China, said it had an expats-led studio working […]

As expats fled China’s zero-COVID, this developer built a sci-fi game for NetEase by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch

Blizzard ends 14-year licensing deal with NetEase in China

In a somewhat surprising turn, Blizzard Activision, the California-based gaming publisher behind global hits like World of Warcraft and Overwatch, will be suspending most of its games in China due to the expiration of licensing agreements with NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in the country. Blizzard’s announcement is set to end a 14-year licensing partnership […]

Blizzard ends 14-year licensing deal with NetEase in China by Rita Liao originally published on TechCrunch

China’s gaming giant NetEase opens first US studio in Austin

NetEase, the second-largest gaming company in China and the sixth-largest in the world, has opened its first US-based studio in Austin as China’s gaming industry slows. The company’s archrival Tencent was a step ahead in expanding to North America. TiMi, Tencent’s cash cow studio known for the mobile blockbuster Honor of Kings, began hiring in […]

China further limits access to unauthorized foreign games

For years, China has left a loophole open for people to access unauthorized video games, but it’s ready to close it. Many foreign titles lack a Chinese publishing partner like Tencent to help them obtain the government-issued license needed to operate in the country, so players normally rely on an “accelerator” to reduce delays of […]

China’s tech firms in limbo amid COVID resurgence, US scrutiny

2022 is not looking any easier to many Chinese tech companies. The slew of new cyberspace regulations introduced over the past year or so, from anti-competition rules to restrictions on the use of algorithms, has prompted internet outfits of all sizes to reshape their business models and monetization strategies, dampening investor confidence. New challenges that […]

India bans Garena Free Fire, 53 more China-linked apps

India has banned Tencent-backed Garena’s Free Fire, NetEase’s Onmyoji Arena and Astracraft and over 50 more apps with apparent links to China, the latest in a series of similar blockings over the past one and half years on national security grounds. Some of the newly prohibited apps, which include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Viva […]