纽约时报中文网 - 中英对照版-中英网易与暴雪复合魔兽世界等游戏将重回中国市场

The Chinese company NetEase said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to distribute titles from Microsoft’s Blizzard Entertainment, restoring access to popular video games like World of Warcraft for Chinese gamers.

中国公司网易周三表示，它已达成了协议，将发行微软旗下暴雪娱乐的游戏，让中国玩家可以继续玩《魔兽世界》等畅销游戏。

More than a year ago, NetEase and Blizzard called an end to their long-running partnership when renewal talks turned testy, with both sides accusing each other of bad-faith negotiations. An uproar ensued among Chinese gamers, upset about losing access to a slew of popular titles from Blizzard’s parent company, the U.S. game developer Activision Blizzard.

一年多前，网易和暴雪的续约谈判不欢而散，双方宣布结束长期合作伙伴关系，并且都指责对方缺乏诚意。这在中国游戏玩家当中引发了轩然大波，他们对于无法再玩暴雪母公司美国游戏开发商动视暴雪旗下的一系列热门游戏感到不满。

NetEase said on Wednesday that it had reached the new deal with Microsoft, which acquired Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal in October. The two companies said they had also agreed to distribute NetEase titles on Microsoft’s Xbox game device.

网易周三表示已与微软达成新协议，后者于去年10月以690亿美元的价格收购了动视暴雪。两家公司表示，他们还同意在微软的游戏设备Xbox上发行网易的游戏。

“We are thrilled to embark on the next chapter, built on trust and mutual respect, to serve our users in this unique community that we’ve built together,” William Ding, NetEase’s chief executive, said in a statement.

网易首席执行官丁磊在一份声明中表示：“我们很高兴能够在信任和相互尊重的基础上开启下一个篇章，在我们共同建立的这个独特的社区中为我们的用户提供服务。”

NetEase and Blizzard first signed a distribution deal in 2008, and the agreement proved beneficial for both sides. NetEase gained access to globally popular titles, while Blizzard secured a foothold in what would become the world’s largest video game market. At one point, World of Warcraft was the most popular online game in China.

网易和暴雪于2008年首次签署了发行协议，事实证明该协议对双方都有利。网易获得了全球热门游戏的发行权，而暴雪则在后来成为全球最大游戏市场的中国站稳了脚跟。《魔兽世界》一度是在中国最受玩家欢迎的网络游戏。

China’s gaming industry has been in turmoil over the last several years. Beijing has sought to rein in online gaming, expressing concern that addiction to it could corrupt young Chinese people. The government has introduced laws that prohibit children from playing online games on school days and limit their gaming to an hour on weekends and holidays.

过去几年，中国的游戏行业一直处于动荡之中。北京一直寻求限制网络游戏，担心沉迷网络游戏会腐蚀中国年轻人。政府出台了法律，禁止儿童在非节假日玩网络游戏，并将周末和节假日玩游戏的时间限制在一个小时内。

Last year, regulators proposed rules that would have imposed spending limits on video game platforms and barred minors from tipping video game livestreamers, a popular way to support online influencers. But regulators backed off the proposal after video game companies’ stocks plunged.

去年，监管机构提出了对视频游戏平台实施消费限制的规则，并禁止未成年人打赏视频博主，这是支持网红的一种常见方式。但在游戏公司股价暴跌后，监管机构放弃了这一提议。

The government crackdowns added a layer of complexity to the negotiations between Activision and NetEase, according to a New York Times investigation into the breakup that was published last year.

根据《纽约时报》去年发表的对动视和网易分道扬镳的调查报道，政府的打压行动使动视和网易之间的谈判变得更加复杂。

Chinese gamers will still have to wait a few months before they can resume playing titles like Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Hearthstone and StarCraft, NetEase and Blizzard said. The companies said they needed time to make “technical preparations” such as restoring data and building new server facilities. They said they were aiming for the first game, which they did not identify, to be available “in the summer.”

网易和暴雪表示，中国玩家仍需等待几个月才能恢复玩《魔兽争霸》《守望先锋》《暗黑破坏神》《炉石传说》和《星际争霸》等游戏。两家公司表示，他们需要时间进行“技术准备”，例如恢复数据和建造新的服务器设施。他们表示，目标是“在夏天”推出第一款游戏，但未透露具体信息。

The announcement of the new agreement was shared widely on Weibo, China’s version of X, and the reaction was mostly negative. Some people still seemed upset that the games had not been available for more than a year, while others accused Blizzard of disrespecting Chinese gamers. One person said that users were not so “cheap” as to come running back immediately once the games had returned.

新协议的消息在微博上成为流行话题，但反应大多负面。一些人似乎仍然对这些游戏消失一年多感到不满，还有一些人指责暴雪不尊重中国玩家。有人表示，用户没有那么“廉价”，游戏一恢复就立即跑回来。