Mobile games and Western partnerships see NetEase revenue increase 35%

NetEase has seen its revenue increase by 35 per cent year-over-year (YOY) to a Q3 net revenue of 16.9 billion yuan ($2.5 billion), 10.3 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) of which is attributed to online game services.

Showing a gross profit of 7.5 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) – a 27 per cent YOY increase – the company’s boosted figures have been driven by Chinese mobile releases like Butterfly Sword, Ancient Nocturne, and Night Falls: Survival, as well as its partnerships with Western companies like Mojang and Blizzard. Through these the Chinese partner has been able to publish World of Warcraft and Minecraft (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz), the latter of which has hit 150 million registered users, up 50 per cent from its Q2 reporting.

"While the performances from our flagship titles remain remarkably steady, we are innovators at our core," CEO William Ding said. "NetEase is one of the very few companies that has consistently created distinct new game IP for both PC-client and mobile platforms. Over the last few months, we rolled out several more hit games including Justice, Ancient Nocturne and Night Falls: Survival.

"Additionally, we have taken a more global view of our online games business. As a result, our international expansion, took another leap forward this quarter, contributing more than 10 percent of total online game net revenues for the first time in our company’s history. We are also very excited about our collaboration with Blizzard to bring one of their biggest games to mobile players, increasing our visibility and expanding our foothold in the global online games market."

NetEase is currently working with Blizzard to bring mobile title Diablo Immortal to China. The team promises it will be a "living, breathing, and constantly evolving" addition to the MMO franchise. However, despite promises of new character classes and storylines, a number of fans are upset and angry that Blizzard closed BlizzCon on this announcement when the community had been very much expecting either confirmation of a remaster, or a peek at Diablo 4.