Diablo Immortal Devs were Making WoW Spin-off, Schreier Reports [UPDATED]
NetEase was supposed to create a World of Warcraft spin-off in the form of a mobile MMORPG. But apparently the project was scrapped after three years of work.
Update
Activision Blizzard has addressed reports by Jason Schreier and Zheping Huang. The developer did not address the issue of the allegedly canceled spin-off of World of Warcraft, but commented on information about the conflict with NetEase. A representative of AB assured Bloomberg, that relations between the two companies remain "extremely successful," and reports of alleged "financial disputes are completely untrue."
Original message
Diablo Immortal was not the only mobile adaptation of Blizzard's brand to be developed by NetEase. As reported by Jason Schreier and Zheping Huang of the Bloomberg agency, the Chinese company was working on a spin-off to the Warcraft series.
The project Neptune was to be a spin-off of World of Warcraft. The action would take place in a different time than in the latter, although it would still be an MMORPG - but not be a faithful copy of the original WoW-a.
Bloomberg has not managed to find out anything more about the game itself. The same goes for the reasons for the project's cancelation, after it was hadled for three years by more than a hundred NetEase employees. Some of them were given the chance to transfer to other positions, but many had to say goodbye to their jobs.
Bloomberg reports only that Blizzard and NetEase failed to reach an agreement on "financial terms." Both companies have not commented on the information.
If the agency's reports are true, the Warcraft brand has lost another mobile game. When the project Warcraft Arclight Rumble was announced in May (intended to compete with Clash Royale), Bloomberg reported that Blizzard had canceled another spin-off. This was to take the form of an AR game in the style of Pokemon GO, which - given the fate of the game's existing competition - probably wasn't a good idea.
Recall that NetEase is reportedly not limited to Blizzard brands. According to recent leaks the Chinese giant has set about creating a mobile adaptation of Destiny 2.
