China court documents incorrectly showed Activision was being sued by former partner NetEase

engadget.com:

On April 24th, 2023, reports circulated that Blizzard Entertainment was being sued by former Chinese publishing partner NetEase after servers shutdown in January when the two failed to reach a continuation agreement. However, a day later, it turns out that NetEase was in fact not suing the company — instead, as reported by PC Gamer, the suit is being brought by a single individual who is known to be a serial litigant with no history with NetEase. It appears the court documents listened NetEase erroneously; the company does not have anything to do with the lawsuit. Originally, MMO-focused gaming website Wowhead noticed the suit.

Since this story was originally published, those court documents have been re-published to reflect that the suits are coming from a Yang Jun; all mentions of NetEase have been removed.

“We haven’t received the lawsuit yet, but we are confident we aren’t in breach of any licensing agreements. The terms NetEase appears to be complaining about reflect standard industry practice and have been mutually-beneficial for years," an Activision rep wrote in a statement to Engadget prior to the discovery that NetEase was not involved in the lawsuit. "While this persistent campaign by one former partner is disappointing and puzzling, it’s important to note that we have enjoyed nearly two decades of positive experiences operating in China, and remain committed to serving players and protecting their interests.”

Blizzard and NetEase were successful partners for the past 14 years before negotiations broke down to renew the long-term licensing agreement. This led to a complete cessation of all Blizzard games and services in the region, including popular properties like World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, Starcraft and