(Yicai Global) April 24 -- Chinese internet giant NetEase is suing Blizzard Entertainment for CNY300 million (USD43.5 million) worth of refunds that a unit is having to pay Chinese players of the US game publisher’s games after the licensing tie-up between the two companies ended in January, Yicai Global learned from a person familiar with the matter.

Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology paid out refunds to over 1.1 million players after Blizzard pulled out of its partnership with NetEase in November last year, rendering most of its highly popular games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch, no longer available on the mainland from Jan. 24, the source said.

The refunds consist of prepayments for unsold games and advance deposits on the security of undeveloped games. But Blizzard has refused to refund EaseNet, the person said.

The lawsuit also involves unequal clauses on rights and interests in the China licensing agreement that favor Santa Monica-based Blizzard, he added.

EaseNet, which is the NetEase arm in charge of Blizzard’s games in China, used to have almost 100 employees but now has only around 10 left, according to an earlier media report.

After terminating the agreement, Blizzard approached NetEase in January to discuss the possibility of extending the original deal by six months in order to buy time to find another partner or to renegotiate a deal with NetEase. NetEase said on Jan. 18 that this last-minute proposal "was arbitrary, tactless and defies business logic.”

Blizzard has yet to appoint a new agent for its games on the mainland. Tencent Holdings, ByteDance Technology, Bilibili, Perfect World, Shanghai miHoYo Network Technology, and The9 Limited are all in the running.

Editor: Kim Taylor