Blizzard Cancels World Of Warcraft Mobile Game

World of Warcraft was close to having a mobile game counterpart, but the deal has fallen through with Activision Blizzard and NetEase. What was once a project that was kept under wraps for years has been brought to light and fans will likely never get the chance to play.

According to a report from Bloomberg, NetEase and Activision Blizzard could not see eye to eye on the business side. The unnamed insider that Bloomberg spoke to claimed that NetEase disbanded the team behind a World of Warcraft mobile game entirely. Whether the development will ever continue isn't entirely set in stone, but without a dedicated team, it's probably shelved for good.

Why did the World of Warcraft Mobile Game get canceled?

Both Activision Blizzard and NetEase disagreed on the terms for the World of Warcraft Mobile Game. This disagreement led to the disbanding of the dedicated development team which was made up of over 100 developers. Most of these developers were let go entirely, and some were allowed to transfer internally.

In the report from Bloomberg, the insider claimed that the game was in development for around three years. This was a game that had plenty of time poured into the development cycle, and it could have easily broken through the major mobile market with the help of NetEase.

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NetEase is one of the largest gaming publishers in China and is focused on mobile games in particular. Diablo Immortal is another game that both of these companies have worked together on and will soon be the reason why the game breaks into the mobile game space in China.

While it seems like the relationship for Diablo Immortal is still going strong, no one is sure how the latest changes will affect the future for both companies. Losing three years of progress for what was code-named Neptune could alter future deals. But both sides declined any comments about WoW to Bloomberg.

What kind of game was World of Warcraft mobile?

From what we know so far, the World of Warcraft Mobile Game was still an MMO, or a massively multiplayer online game. We can only assume that most of the same mechanics would remain but there would be more monetization and separate mobile mechanics.

Another difference would have been the timeline. The mobile game would have been a spinoff in a different timeline rather than a direct link to the PC version. Whether it was in the past or the future of WoW is still unknown, but more information could come out in the next week.

For more on the world of Azeroth, check out our section dedicated to World of Warcraft guides, news, leaks, features, and more.

Featured image courtesy of Activision Blizzard.