Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase jointly announced that the two parties will extend their existing online game cooperation in mainland China to January 2020.

The renewed operation agreement includes Blizzard's World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch, as well as new content for these games during the agreement period.

This is reportedly the ninth year for the partnership between U.S.-based Blizzard Entertainment and NetEase. In 2008, the two companies jointly introduced Blizzard's StarCraft II and Battle.net platform into China. The renewal of the operation agreement represents the achievements of the past eight years and further enhances the existing partnership of the two companies.

Mike Morhaime, chief executive officer and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said that NetEase has been a great partner for many years now and Blizzard has always appreciated their hard work and dedication to providing the best experiences for players in China. They look forward to continuing to work closely with NetEase on delivering even more great content in the years ahead.

William Ding, chief executive officer of NetEase, said that their partnership with Blizzard has been great these past eight years, and they are very pleased to continue the close collaboration. Both companies are proud of their commitment to high quality and value for players, and that has served as a foundation for their strong alliance and positions them well for continued success.