Diablo Immortal was to be released in China on June 23, but those who have been waiting for the game in the country will have to wait longer. NetEase, which co-developed the game with Blizzard, has delayed the release date indefinitely. He wrote in a blog post that “the development team is making a number of optimization adjustments.”
However, there are other factors at play. NetEase was met with bad thanks from censors in China for a post on its social media service Weibo that appeared to refer to Winnie the Pooh, according to the Financial Times. The cartoon character is used to make fun of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
After a screenshot of the post (which said “why didn’t the bear retreat?”) Gaining momentum, Diablo Immortal Weibo’s official account was banned from posting anything. Discussions related to the post were also deleted from the service.
Diablo Immortal does not currently have a release date in China, although NetEase is still waiting to ship the game to the country. He promised players an “exclusive thank you package containing legendary equipment” as compensation for the delay.
The PC and mobile title debuted in other territories this month. It reportedly raised $ 24 million in two weeks as a result of its aggressive approach to monetization. China is the largest gaming market on the planet and not being able to launch Diablo Immortal there would probably have a serious impact on the game’s expected revenue. NetEase declined to comment to the Financial Times. Engadget has contacted Blizzard for comment.
It’s not the first time a game developer has had issues with Chinese regulators for a Winnie the Pooh reference. Publisher Indievent lost her license to sell Devotion in China, which led her to sever ties with developer Red Candle Games, which included a blatant investigation into Xi’s own game. The Taiwan-based studio later began selling a DRM-free version of Devotion in its own store.