NetEase Blizzard's marketing tactics for breaking up and getting back together

Recently, NetEase and Blizzard have once again become a hot topic, and the operation of various game accounts has begun to get busy. Let's take a look at the past "love and hate" between NetEase and Blizzard.

A few days ago, the news of NetEase and Blizzard's "reunion" became a hot topic, sparking discussions from the outside world.

From a corporate perspective, it is normal for game manufacturers to break up and reunite for commercial interests; from a marketing perspective, NetEase has put in a lot of effort, whether it was the "breakup" a year ago or the official announcement of "reunion" today. As the heat fades, TOP will review how NetEase involved ordinary business behaviors in user emotions and participation, and successfully packaged them into event marketing that is beneficial to the brand image.

1. Live broadcast of dismantling the "ex" figurine and launching a drink with the connotation of "Blizzard Green Tea"

On November 17, 2022, Blizzard announced without warning that its cooperation with NetEase will expire on January 23 of the following year, and plans to suspend a number of services in mainland China for popular games including "Overwatch", "World of Warcraft", and "Diablo 3" at that time.

The two companies have been working closely together for 15 years, starting from 2008 when NetEase won the rights to operate many games under Blizzard. The sudden closure of the server not only hurt the feelings of the players, but also affected the interests of many parties. For a time, everyone was discussing the reasons for the breakdown of the contract, and some negative reports emerged that "NetEase wanted to control the IP."

In response to this, NetEase’s official WeChat public account released a long statement, responding strongly to Blizzard’s “blame-shifting” statement, and directly pointing out that Blizzard’s behavior was “outrageous, inappropriate, and inconsistent with business logic.”

The statement explained three issues clearly and logically, namely, "NetEase rejected Blizzard's proposal to extend service for six months", explained the media reports that "NetEase wants IP control", and the reminder about the progress of World of Warcraft players. NetEase's statement finally focused on user experience, cleverly combining reasoning with emotion, showing a tough but user-friendly attitude, and received a lot of praise.

After the image of the "victim" was established, NetEase's Naraka: Bladepoint live broadcast dismantled the "ex" figurine, and the sculpture of the famous weapon Bloodhowl in World of Warcraft was smashed, pushing the players' grief and anger to a peak. This behavior was interpreted by many players as a symbol of the "breakup" between the two parties and a sign of the end of an era.

At the same time, the coffee bar in the NetEase campus launched the "Blizzard Green Tea" drink, which is a fair and honest "yin and yang" of Blizzard. The poster meaningfully reads: After drinking this cup, let's go. Because there were too many people ordering, the queue for orders once lasted for more than 3 hours, causing the coffee bar to temporarily close the order channel.

2. Blizzard turns back, NetEase aims at globalization

Over the past year, as soon as the news of NetEase Blizzard's reunion came out, the operation of various game accounts began to get busy. Naraka: Bladepoint called back as a welcome: We paid for Bloodhowl. It can be seen that the Internet still has memory. Although the sculpture can be repaired, the loss of more than a year has really consumed the players' feelings.

Taking the "Reforged Bloodroar" logo as the entry point, Blizzard's official website, NetEase Cloud Music, and NetEase DaShen launched related activities and rewards, stating that they will design and cast a brand new Bloodroar sculpture in an attempt to recall old players and mobilize their enthusiasm for participation.

It will take some time to prepare for the launch of the service, but as of now, NetEase is already in a stronger position. Blizzard's revenue and net profit are still in a downward trend, but in 2023, when it was separated from Blizzard, NetEase's game revenue increased steadily and its stock price nearly doubled.

All of Blizzard's games in China combined may not have as much market share as NetEase's single top products such as "Egg Party" and "Against the Cold", and NetEase may not be in urgent need of Blizzard's return to support its game product line. Compared with Blizzard, NetEase is now more concerned about Microsoft's Xbox platform and global opportunities behind it, which has been reflected in the official announcement. This time it is more like a "new marriage" between NetEase and Microsoft than a reunion between NetEase and Blizzard.

According to the 2023 China Game Industry Report, the actual sales revenue of the domestic game market reached 302.964 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.95%, breaking the 300 billion yuan mark for the first time. The importance of the Chinese game market and NetEase's strong operational capabilities are the reasons why Blizzard chose to reunite, and this time, NetEase has its own way to go.

Author: TOP Jun; Source public account: TopMarketing (ID: TMarketing)