Gamers: Netease Countdown Site for Starcraft II, not Diablo III
Duowan.com, 4/29/09
Chinese online gaming news portal Duowan.com reported today that online game developer and operator Netease (Nasdaq: NTES) has re-launched sub-channel xyx.163.com, which was previously used for the countdown to release of its self-developed 2.5D MMORPG Ghost. The website does not specify any game by name, but features a game graphic and shows less than 7 days remaining in the countdown.
Editor's Note: Duowan initially reported that the image displayed on xyx.163.com looks very similar to that on a page previously used by game developer Blizzard Entertainment for countdown to release of its 3D game Diablo III. However, several hours later, after a slew of reader comments insisting that the image is in fact associated not with Diablo III, but Starcraft II, Duowan changed the game name in the article to "Starcraft II" and removed a graphic of Diablo III that was featured for comparison with the xyx.163.com graphic.
Netease announced that it had won the mainland operating rights for Starcraft II in August 2008. For more background on the licensing agreement, please see "Netease Licenses Starcraft II For Mainland China", MD 8/13/08 issue.
Keywords: Diablo III Ghost 3D game Blizzard Duowan game developer Internet MMORPG Netease NTES online gaming operating rights StarCraft II self-developed game