In November 2022, Blizzard preemptively released a statement terminating its cooperation with NetEase Games before NetEase released its quarterly earnings report. This means that the 14-year cooperation between NetEase and Blizzard has come to an end. Games operated by Blizzard in China, such as World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and Overwatch, will be shut down and suspended. And all this is only 2 months left before the official closure.
We tried to take some clips to record how Blizzard players in China said goodbye during these 2 months.
Old knife uncle
Old players who can't afford to toss
This is not the first time that the old uncle has experienced WoW suspension. The last time WoW's agent was changed from 9C to NetEase, the old Dao uncle first went on an expedition to Taiwan to experience the Lich King for a period of time. When the domestic TBC reopened, it returned to the national service and brushed the toilet for a whole year.
Now that he is middle-aged, his uncle does not have much time to pounce on Warcraft. Just like a casual party, a nostalgic Naxamas G group every week, working part-time and being a boss at the same time.
As soon as the news of the suspension in January came out, many people in the server directly felt that they were out of motivation, plus after closing the recharge, they lost another batch because they could not go online. For a while, the number of groups that could be formed was much less than before, and the gold price of the uncle's service fell directly from 120 yuan / 10,000 g to 80 yuan / 10,000 G. But the knife uncle still remained in the national costume nostalgia, brushing his thieves with double daggers.
It's a pity that the sky doesn't go as expected, no matter how few thieves compete, the boss is equal to zero. After finding nothing again, the uncle's mentality also exploded a little - there are still 4 CDs left before the customs suit, and it may not be dropped if you hit it again. Moreover, maybe the next server will be a cataclysm version.
What if it falls?
After playing Warcraft for more than ten years, Uncle Dao is surrounded by many friends who have been playing WOW. So even if you immediately go to Taiwan and Asian clothes now, there are ready-made teams to take in.
But this time, Uncle Dao doesn't plan to go to the outer service for the time being.
"Let's see, wait and see what happens between the national service and the new agent," Uncle Dao said.
"I've been trying all kinds of games around lately, but it's no longer possible to devote myself as much as I did to Warcraft... The most lacking thing for middle-aged people is time, and it is too tossed to change around, in case there are changes next year, such as renewing the contract? ”
As the earliest batch of NetEase game employees, Dao Uncle has accumulated a lot of contacts in the game circle, and naturally there are many sources that cannot be named and named.
As a well-known "uncle" in the WOW circle, Uncle Dao also constantly updates the "insider" news on Weibo that a certain large factory is negotiating with Blizzard, which has also triggered reprints by many media.
Being able to keep serving the transition is the hope of Uncle Dao, and it is also the hope of most WOW players, but with the latest announcement of Blizzard on January 17, Uncle Dao knows that this hope is destined to be disappointed...
Internet abuse employees
An abrupt breakup
Behind this now-unseemly breakup, players know little: NetEase Blizzard's office building is left with only empty tables and chairs.
For those online violence employees who have served Blizzard Games for more than ten years. Their proud project, their common goal, eventually dissipated at the end of the year of Nonin.
As an employee who has served Blizzard's multiple project teams in China, he has worked in online violence for many years. As early as around October, L vaguely felt that the renewal of his contract with Blizzard was not smooth.
"But in fact, every year when we talk, we pull each other, and then we renew our contracts every year," L said, "Everyone knew it was too long, but everyone thought it was a success." "。 Although there are some ominous premonitions, the announcement of the upcoming version, the contract with other media, and even some offline cooperation, are continuing, and the corresponding fees are being paid normally..."If we had known that we were going to terminate the contract, these fees would not have been spent at all." ”
However, all this changed on November 16, the day Blizzard made its first announcement. First, some cooperation that was already on contract was stopped, and then the team leader began to draw up the first list of layoffs. Due to the suddenness of the news, in L's words: "Many people will not believe that this is true until the first layoffs"
On November 20, Blizzard Game Channel B Station Blue V released the video "Those who believe in meeting can always meet again". In the video, it is a photo of the offline activities held by NetEase Blizzard over the years. We can see the Hearthstone Gold Open, the well-known anchor Andronie and Montage in the video, we can see the Overwatch Winter Game, Heroes of the Storm... These photos record the moments when NetEase Blizzard operated Blizzard games in the past 14 years, and also recorded the bits and pieces of online violence employees in the 14 years.
However, all this came to an abrupt end at the end of 2022. Interviewed by HR, packed up workstation, farewell... In the circle of friends of departing employees and departing employees, in addition to the gratitude between the lines, there is a strong sense of regret and the feeling of parting from the proud project.
By the time came to January 2023, most of the employees had been laid off, leaving only some necessary support and technical departments. I used to make small talk with L: "In case Blizzard can't find the receiver in the end, is it possible to renew the contract and call you all back back." Even if the contract is not renewed, the takeover company is more inclined to recruit you old people who have served for many years, right? ”
But L replied to me, "These have nothing to do with specific people, they are gone." Maybe the person who left went to another company, maybe he went back to his hometown? ”
Perhaps, those who believe in reunion will eventually be reunited, but when they reunite, some people are destined not to return.
Hearthstone anchor
Between changing careers and breaking defenses
Unlike the regret and anger after the collapse of the project they operated, streamers who broadcast Blizzard games need to consider how to find opportunities and seize them when facing this collapse.
On November 17, when Blizzard announced that it would no longer renew the agency agreement with NetEase, "Hearthstone" anchor Donkey Brother was live broadcasting, at this time, the live broadcast room water friend barrage reminded him that "NetEase and Blizzard talked about collapse", Donkey Brother backhanded a "where's the gossip", after personally confirming the news, the smile disappeared from Donkey Brother's face, and the live broadcast effect was full.
Among the Hearthstone anchors, the most ruthless is President Andronie, who switched to live streaming and food delivery, and at this point at the turn of the old and new, there is also a hint of symbolism of the accusation against Blizzard.
In addition to Brother Donkey and the president, other anchors in Hearthstone also have their own ideas on this matter, but the core idea is one sentence: "There is always a way out." Just like Master Wang confessed to Shui You in the live broadcast: "Hearthstone has passed the development period, and now Hearthstone's suspension is not necessarily a bad thing for the anchor." ”
After that, Master Wang took the lead in organizing a "Hearthstone's Last Dinner", which was a decent farewell to this game that accompanied the majority of players.
After bidding farewell to the national server, the anchors also have to find a new livelihood, either switch to foreign servers or change games, which are the two choices in front of them. At this time, it coincided with the opening of the Seven Holy Summons in "Genshin". Hearthstone Valilla, Billy Jun and other anchors took the lead in doing decks and live explanations of the Seven Saints Summoning at Station B. Since the Seven Saints Summons require a certain level to unlock, Hearthstone's champion of the China-Europe Tournament, Xhope, is still catching up with the progress of the big world at full speed during the off-duty hours of the live broadcast.
But not all Hearthstone streamers can calmly welcome this change. On December 7, when Douyu anchor "Dog Thief" was playing Hearthstone live, a fan with a fan card above level 20 asked him whether to play "Genshin" "Seven Saints Call". Maybe it's because of the pain that Hearthstone is about to stop working, maybe it's the trouble caused by too many people brushing the seven holy summons in the live broadcast room of the dog thief. The dog thief instantly broke his defense, directly sprayed the audience in anger, and shouted "Whoever plays will XX".
In addition, "Duck Duck Kill", which exploded on Steam, took up the other half of Hearthstone during this special period, and big anchors such as Night Blow, Dai Jiawei, Xia Yike, and Donkey Brother turned to live broadcast "Duck Duck Kill".
For the fans of the streamers, this is a carnival in Hearthstone, and for the anchors themselves, it is a self-help for huddles.
For Hearthstone players, like a player around me who has insisted on pre-ordering almost every version since the start of the server, this is a disappointment, a disappointment about time and money.
On January 20, 2023, Blizzard issued another blue sticker announcement: In the 2023 Hearthstone event, Hearthstone players residing in the mainland region are prohibited from participating in Hearthstone events due to the suspension of operations in China. Although it is an objective fact that it is impossible to organize participation in the event due to the suspension of operations. But restricting players who live in Chinese mainland to participate makes it hard not to interpret other flavors.
As soon as the news broke, it directly rushed to the top of sina's Weibo hot search, and the comment area was full of insults against Blizzard.
In just 2 months, Blizzard's reputation in China for more than 20 years was completely shattered by itself.
Gold Studio
This winter is a little colder
And for another group of people who depend on Blizzard games for a living, this winter could be a little colder. For example, Lao Chen, who opened a gold studio.
A few weeks before the news of NetEase and Blizzard's breakup was officially released, a friend of Lao Chen reminded him that there might be problems in the negotiations for this contract extension. As the head of a small studio with only seven or eight people, he was actually mentally prepared before the national service officially announced the suspension of service.
"But when it really came to this day, I still found it quite difficult to accept."
Since the studio was not large, and it was mentally prepared in advance, part of the studio's remaining gold coin inventory was disposed of a few days before the news of the shutdown. "There are definitely losses, but ours are not as big as we think." The subsequent fluctuation of gold prices is for the studio's work of exchanging physical strength for data, according to Lao Chen's own words.
"It's been busy for nothing."
For him, the impact of the collapse of the gold price of the national service is far less shocking than the refund to the old customers who used to pack versions, seasons, and years.
"A few customers actually knew each other when they were playing before, and when we started to practice, they came over and were very familiar friends."
"There was a master consultant who had been with me for a year or two and wondered if the news was true, and I said yes. Then I was ready to calculate how much money was left for him, and I said that I would return the excess money to you here. ”
The customer said, "Money is a trivial matter, and the number I've been playing with for 10 years is gone." ”
Two days later, Lao Chen returned the money to the customer, and he said: Take care.
There was no more contact.
A week later, Lao Chen logged in to the game and looked at the friend list again, and found that the patron had changed the Battle.net ID to
"See you goodbye"
When I asked Mr. Chen what his plans were for the future of the studio, he was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone.
"We actually tried Asian service gold and substitute training before, and as soon as the news came out, we got two computers and started doing it."
He was silent for a while: "But to be honest, I'm a little tired, it's really tiring, let's rest for a few days before the New Year, and then think about what to do after that." ”
When Lao Chen sent me this picture, their studio was packed
Although the studio's business can always be done, when it comes to the mood of playing games as a player, Lao Chen said: "It's long gone." ”
Finally, finally
The Vigil of Azeroth
It's January 21st, the New Year's bell is about to ring in the real world, and countless players in Azeroth have chosen to spend time with their long-standing world.
Even if the world has 20 hours to go before it closes its doors to them.
Also at this moment, some players also choose their favorite resting place for their protagonists, some players choose to take photos in the place where they were born, and then go offline, and some players come to Valhalla and choose to end their gaming career. But more players choose to go to places where the game has a special meaning for them.
Maybe it's your beloved main city, maybe it's the door of a copy that makes you die and die, maybe it's coming to the place where you first met with someone. Maybe it's a meeting point with your union friends.
On this lively night, when the zero hour clock is about to strike, they do not hesitate to send blessings to friends, rivals, and strangers who have fought and ventured together in this world, just as they have done before.
When fireworks explode in this world, everyone is reluctant.
On the NGA's farewell posting, countless warriors left their names and blessings, and they also looked forward to the day when they would meet again.
Friends of this continent, if we never meet again in the future, I wish you happiness yesterday, today, and every tomorrow.