(Yicai Global) April 26 -- Blizzard Entertainment is confident that it has not contravened any licensing agreements, after a subsidiary of Chinese internet giant NetEase sued it earlier this month for USD300 million (USD43.5 million) worth of refunds after the licensing tie-up between the two companies ended in January, the US game publisher told Yicai Global yesterday.

Blizzard has not received the lawsuit yet and the terms that appear to be in contention are standard industry practice and have been mutually beneficial for years, the Santa Monica-based firm said.

The game publisher’s nearly two decades of operating in China have been a very positive and pleasant experience, and although recent behaviors have disappointed and confused Blizzard, the company will remain to committed to serving local players and protecting their rights, it added.

However, people close to Blizzard told Yicai Global yesterday that Blizzard does not believe the refunds received by players were directly advanced by NetEase. And that it is likely that the terms under dispute were renegotiated when the two parties last renewed their contract.

Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology, which is the NetEase arm that has been in charge of Blizzard’s games in China for the last 14 years, paid out refunds to over 1.1 million players after the licensing deal ended, rendering most of Blizzard’s highly popular games such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch no longer available on the mainland from Jan. 24, Yicai Global learned from a person familiar with the matter on April 24.

The refunds consist of prepayments for unsold in-game purchases and advance deposits on several undeveloped games. But Blizzard has refused to refund EaseNet, the source said. The lawsuit also involves unequal clauses on rights and interests in the contract that favors Blizzard, he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor