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Tag: Virtual worlds

  • Blizzard, NetEase gaming partnership in China to end

    Blizzard, NetEase gaming partnership in China to end

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    HONG KONG — American game developer Blizzard Entertainment said Thursday that it will suspend most of its game services in mainland China after current licensing agreements with Chinese games company NetEase end, sending NetEase’s shares tumbling.

    Blizzard, which partnered with NetEase in 2008 to offer popular games like World of Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo in mainland China, said in a statement the two companies did not reach a deal to renew the agreements “that is consistent with Blizzard’s operating principles and commitments to players and employees.”

    The partnership is set to expire in January next year. Blizzard said that new sales will be “suspended in the coming days.”

    NetEase shares plunged as much as 15% in Hong Kong following the news.

    In a statement, NetEase said that the expiration of its licenses with Blizzard would have “no material impact” on the company’s financial results.

    The company said revenues and income from the licensed Blizzard games represented “low single digits” as a total percentage of NetEase’s total revenues and income last year, and in the first three quarters of 2022.

    “We have put in a great deal of effort and tried with our utmost sincerity to negotiate with Activision Blizzard so that we could continue our collaboration and serve the many dedicated players in China,” William Ding, CEO of NetEase, said in the statement. “However, there were material differences on key terms and we could not reach an agreement.”

    Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Ybarra said that the firm is looking for alternatives to bring the games back to Chinese players in the future.

    “We’re immensely grateful for the passion our Chinese community has shown throughout the nearly 20 years we’ve been bringing our games to China through NetEase and other partners,” Ybarra said.

    The games affected by the suspension are World of Warcraft, the StarCraft series, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch and Diablo III.

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  • Why Meta’s virtual-reality avatars are finally getting legs

    Why Meta’s virtual-reality avatars are finally getting legs

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    MENLO PARK, Calif. — Why is it so hard to build a metaverse avatar — a visual representation of ourselves in the digital world — that walks on two legs?

    “I think everyone has been waiting for this,” said a cartoonish digital version of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, unveiling his new avatar legs and jumping up and down at a virtual-reality event Tuesday. “But seriously, legs are hard. Which is why other virtual reality systems don’t have them either.”

    Early avatar models introduced by Meta, as well as Microsoft, have been ridiculed for appearing as legless, waist-up bodies floating around their virtual worlds.

    That’s in part because tech companies have been eager to show off their progress in building out virtual-reality environments while still working on the technical challenges of making avatars more human-like and realistic. Meta renamed itself from Facebook last year in hopes of jumpstarting its corporate transformation into a provider of metaverse experiences for work and play.

    Zuckerberg described legs as “probably the most requested feature on our roadmap” and said they will be available soon on Meta’s Horizon virtual-reality platform. He said the challenge is perceptual, involving how the brain — taking in images seen though a virtual-reality headset — accepts a rendering based on how accurately it is positioned.

    Legs are harder to render accurately because they’re often hidden from view.

    “If your legs are under a desk or if your arms block your view of them, then your headset can’t see them directly,” he said.

    Zuckerberg said the company has been working to improve how its artificial intelligence systems track and predict where legs and other body parts should be moving.

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