NetEase Might Bring Call of Duty Franchise to China

Gaming network NetEase, one of the biggest on the Chinese market, has announced that it has increased revenue by a full 25 percent when compared to the previous fiscal year and seems to be in advanced negotiations with publisher Activision Blizzard linked with bringing the Call of Duty series to China.

The company announced revenue of 1.5 billion renminbi for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, which is the equivalent of 234.9 million dollars.

Most of the sum was derived from the operation of online games which use the free-to-play and micro transaction model, but revenue from the operation of the MMO World of Warcraft, which NetEase has the exclusive rights to in China, were also up by 3 percent.

Mike Hickey, who is watching the video game industry for Janco Partners, has said that he is positive that NetEase can perform even better in the future because it has access to one of the fastest growing gaming market on the planet.

The analyst says NetEase benefits from “limited exposure / development within web based online games, where accelerated relative market growth is anticipated.”

It also seems that NetEase is very much interested in bringing the million selling Call of Duty first-person shooter series to China and is in negotiations with Activision Blizzard over the issues.

Other Chinese gaming companies like Shanda and Tencent are also interested, but NetEase should be the front runner because of the current relationship over Starcraft II and World of Warcraft.

At the moment, NetEase is preparing to launch Starcraft II on the Chinese market, after a successful beta test phase.

Video game companies from the West have limited access to the Chinese market because they need to partner up with a home-grown company for publishing duties.

Most titles also face restrictions linked to the content of their games.