You would be forgiven for thinking that NetEase wouldn’t want its own major hero shooter and Overwatch 2 to be in the country at the same time, but evidently you would be wrong assuming we all take answers from a recent earnings call at face value, as the corporation thinks there’s room enough for both of them to grow.
“The expectations for Overwatch are similar to those for World of Warcraft and Hearthstone,” NetEase is quoted as saying. “Both Marvel Rivals and Overwatch are excellent superhero shooters, and the market is large enough to accommodate both games.”
Readers will recall that Overwatch’s removal from China was part of a wider sunset of Blizzard titles in the country in 2022 after a partnership between Blizzard and NetEase dissolved allegedly owing to antagonism from Activision-Blizzard leadership, but those games were confirmed to return to the country after both companies mended fences in the wake of the Microsoft buyout.
Overwatch’s return happened only last month, which led some gamers to make some presumptions about NetEase, but that apparently is not the case. Again, assuming we take a corp’s word at face value.
