Blizzard’s departure from China, however temporary as the company looks for a new partner, has saddened Blizzard’s Chinese fans. World of Warcraft players are reporting their grief on social media.
WoW has been available in China since 2008. In 2016, it was estimated that the Chinese make up about half of all people who play Blizzard’s MMORPG.
About how painful it is for fans to part with WoW after almost 15 years, their comments on the network testify. One player said he “cried all night” after World of Warcraft’s Chinese servers went down on Tuesday. Some refused to part with the game, calling it their “first love”.
Users on Reddit noted that this is not only about the loss of the opportunity to play, but also about parting with the community in which the person spent several or even a dozen years. Such friendships sometimes went beyond the scope of the game itself. Often, players in the virtual world met a soul mate.
The actual lockdown of WoW in China means that players have lost characters built in hundreds and thousands of hours, which is disappointing to say the least.
Blizzard’s exit from China also mourns NetEase President Simon Zhu. In a letter to Linkedin, he informedwho grew up with the game, taught English with it, and Mike Morhaime, co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, was his idol.
CNN reported that Activision Blizzard is now looking for a new partner to bring the company’s products back to China. Back in December, they promised that the company would allow backing up game data with the ability to save progress.