Netease, China’ 2nd largest internet company (behind Tencent), has been confirmed by Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime as the publisher for Starcraft 2 in the Mainland. Netease is also currently the publisher for World of Warcraft China, with an aim to release the Cataclysm expansion in 2011 (if they pass through the strict government checks). If you have not read, Activision Blizzard will be setting up a studio in China for the development of a Free to Play Call of Duty MMO.
While the publisher has not been confirmed at this point of time, Roth Capital Partner‘s analyst, Adam Krejcik, stated that there is a high possibility of Netease being the chosen one. From my personal point of view, Netease currently does now have a online shooter game in its offerings, so it will only be logical for the company to fight for the publishing rights. Netease’s stock rose by 11% amongst all these deals and speculation, hitting a 16month high.
