(Yicai Global) Jan. 18 -- NetEase has blasted Blizzard Entertainment for suggesting that the reason why the US game publisher pulled out of its tie-up with NetEase last year, effectively ending the distribution of most of its games on the mainland from next week, was because the Chinese internet giant was trying to take control of the US firm’s intellectual property.

NetEase wanted to completely change the framework of the agreement, which would cause Blizzard to lose control of the games’ IP rights and this was not acceptable to the Irvine, California-based firm, a source close to the US game publisher told Yicai Global yesterday.

“Such a suggestion by Blizzard and its last-minute proposal to extend the original deal for six months, after previously ending it, are arbitrary, tactless and defy business logic,” the Hangzhou-based company said today.

As an agent of gaming services, NetEase has never sought control over Blizzard’s IPs in the 14 years of their long-running partnership, and has always abided by the clauses of their contract, it said. All its IP-related deals with other partners are also based on these principles, it added.

Blizzard pulled out of its tie-up with NetEase in November last year, meaning its highly popular games, such as World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Hearthstone and Overwatch, will no longer be available on the mainland from Jan. 24 and causing an outcry among the gaming community.

Negotiations with Blizzard were much more difficult than expected and it was not possible to meet its demands on some central issues concerning sustainable operations, the China market and the core interests of players, NetEase Chief Executive Officer Ding Lei said at the time.

Blizzard President Mike Ybarra then approached NetEase 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, the source said. Senior management from NetEase participated in the negotiations last week, but refused to accept Blizzard’s proposal.

Blizzard said it would continue to engage with other potential partners during the six-month extension and that its negotiations with the other companies would all be for a three-year contract, Hangzhou, southeastern Zhejiang province-based NetEase said. And in the end, the pair failed to agree.

Editors：Shi Yi, Kim Taylor