Chinese players of role-playing epic 'World of Warcraft' bade a sad farewell to the land of Azeroth on Monday, with the game set to go offline after a dispute between US developer Blizzard and local partner NetEase.
Popular worldwide, particularly in the 2000s, 'World of Warcraft' — often abbreviated as Wow — is an online multiplayer game set in a fantasy-Medieval world where good battles evil.
The gameplay is known for being immersive and addictive, and players can accumulate hundreds of hours of game time.
Blizzard's games have been available in China since 2008, through collaboration with internet giant NetEase — under local law, foreign developers are required to partner with Chinese firms to enter the market.
But after 14 years and millions of players in China, the two firms announced in November that talks over renewing their operating contract had failed to lead to an agreement.
As a result, Wow's Chinese servers will go offline on Tuesday midnight local time.
Other popular titles by the Californian gaming giant — one of the world's biggest — will suffer the same fate, including Overwatch, Diablo III and Hearthstone.
“It's the end,” wrote one Weibo user, accompanied by crying emojis.
“It was not just a game. It was also the memories of a whole generation” of young Chinese, another wrote.
“The two companies have taken players hostage,” Wu, a 30-year-old doctoral student and a longtime fan, told AFP.
Last week, Blizzard China said it had requested an exceptional six-month contract extension, which NetEase refused.
“One day, when what has happened behind the scene could be told, developers and gamers will have a whole new level of understanding of how much damage a jerk can make,” NetEase's President Simon Zhu wrote on LinkedIn late last year.
Blizzard had said it was in “discussions” with “several potential partners who share our values” to continue to offer its titles in China.
The deactivation of its Chinese servers is not “the end” but just a “temporary unhappy suspension”, Blizzard China said.
User data can be saved for use, if and when the games return to China, according to the American company.
But doctoral student Wu, who said he played Wow up to three hours a day, saw the good side of the story.
“I didn't give my wife enough time. Now that 'World of Warcraft' is gone, I want to make amends,” he said.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Day 2, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Pakistan’s effort in the field had hints of shambles about it. The wheels were officially off when Wahab Riaz lost his run up and aborted the delivery four times in a row. He re-measured his run, jogged in for two practice goes. Then, when he was finally ready to go, he bailed out again. It was a total cringefest.
Stat of the day – 139.5 Yasir Shah has bowled 139.5 overs in three innings so far in this Test series. Judged by his returns, the workload has not withered him. He has 14 wickets so far, and became history’s first spinner to take five-wickets in an innings in five consecutive Tests. Not bad for someone whose fitness was in question before the series.
The verdict Stranger things have happened, but it is going to take something extraordinary for Pakistan to keep their undefeated record in Test series in the UAE in tact from this position. At least Shan Masood and Sami Aslam have made a positive start to the salvage effort.
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