All gaming companies must receive official licenses to release games in the country. The uncertainty surrounding the release date of 'Diablo Immortal' in mainland China may be connected to the country's yearslong crackdown on its gaming industry.Ĭhina's gaming market is highly regulated. Regulators in China restrict time spent gaming online during weekdays and weekends for youth Image: AFP Why does China regulate the gaming industry? The postponed release date will mark the game's debut in mainland China, though no official date has been given.

While the game has already been released in the US and UK, it has so far not been made available in the company's home market.

'We believe that the gaming experience in the version officially released will be smoother, and we'll bring better game content to everyone,' the company said. In a statement released on Sunday, NetEase - which was founded in China in 1997 by developer Ding Lei - wrote that it had postponed the launch to further optimize the gaming experience for users. What did NetEase say about the game's delay? In April, Beijing announced that it would approve new gaming licenses for publication, with NetEase seeing an 8% increase in its US-listed stock market value at the time. The drop signals a dramatic shift in the company's stock market performance since earlier in the year. The company is struggling under increased restrictions placed on gaming companies in China, which, for instance, forced NetEase to scale back its wide array of studios in 2021. What do we know so far?įollowing news of delay, NetEase shares dipped more than 10%, to their lowest level since September. Shares of Chinese gaming company NetEase plunged on Monday after the firm said it would delay release of the popular game 'Diablo Immortal' in China.

Diablo immortal reception in china