Sega & CA partners with NetEase

Relic sister studio Creative Assembly partners with Chinese NetEase and tease a brand-new collectable card game (Total War: ELYSIUM) targeting an initial release on PC and mobile in China..
NetEase resurrected Total: War Arena as a China-exclusive (pay to win coming back?)
NetEase also behind Diablo Immortal.

Official Creative Assembly Announcement:
https://www.creative-assembly.com/blog/creative-assembly-partners-netease
https://www.totalwarelysium.com/en

The Creative Assembly™ Ltd., part of SEGA® Europe Ltd., today announced a long-term partnership with NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES), one of China’s leading internet and online game services providers, which will see Total War™ published in China. NetEase, Inc. has secured rights to publish the franchise’s award-winning historical catalogue up to and including the wildly successful Total War™: THREE KINGDOMS.

In addition, the announcement included a tease for the upcoming Total War: Elysium, a brand-new collectable card game targeting an initial release on PC and mobile in China.

NETEASE DEAL ANNOUNCEMENT FAQ BEHIND THE SCENES:
https://www.totalwar.com/blog/netease-deal-announcement-faq/

Developer Newsletter: ARENA to be published in China with NetEase:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TotalWarArena/comments/cl07uu/developer_newsletter_arena_to_be_published_in/
Greetings Commanders!

As some of you may have heard, Creative Assembly has just signed a deal with Netease to publish Total War titles in China, and you may be wondering how this affects ARENA. (The FAQ for that is here: https://www.creative-assembly.com/blog/creative-assembly-partners-netease)

After we shut down the game in February, we thought that ARENA’s journey had come to an end; with members of the ARENA team being moved onto various other projects at CA. Fortunately however, as part of this deal Netease will publish Total War: ARENA in China. We moved some members of the old team back onto the project, and they have been working on adapting the servers and producing new content.

What does this mean for you?

Total War: ARENA will not be directly accessible in Western countries, and while we are disappointed that we won’t be able to jump back into battles with our old community, there’s also excitement for ARENA’s future. We’re currently in a stage of adaptation; finding out what the Chinese market needs from us and making sure ARENA lives up to that. We want to ensure that ARENA has the best possible life it can in China.

Will it ever come back to the West?

To be honest, we don’t currently have the capacity to provide servers and support both inside and outside of China, but we won’t rule it out for the future. That won’t be a quick decision as a lot of it depends on how well ARENA does in China, but we’re determined to give it our best shot. We still see a lot of potential in the West, and NetEase agrees.
When we know any more about ARENA’s future in other markets, we will let you all know.

If you have any questions, please comment below and I’ll do my best to answer what I can.
Thanks,
Josh

Creative Assembly announces Total War collectible card game - but it's China-only for now
Plus, Arena resurrected as a China-exclusive:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-08-03-creative-assembly-announces-total-war-collectible-card-game-but-its-china-only-for-now
News by Wesley Yin-Poole, Deputy Editor Updated on 3 August 2019
Creative Assembly has made a glut of announcements focused on the Chinese market.

First up is Total War: Elysium, a collectible card game (CCG) for PC and mobile. We don't know much about the game, although official art shows Napoleon playing a card game against Sun Ren, so I expect you'll be able to pick from a selection of famous generals throughout history.

Creative Assembly said Total War: Elysium launches in China first with the help of NetEase, "but we hope to bring it to players worldwide before too long."

"Total War: Elysium is a new title and a new genre for us, and we want to give it the best possible chance for success. China gives us a huge audience of CCG fans to learn from so we can eventually bring the game to the rest of the world in better shape than ever."

Meanwhile, Creative Assembly has resurrected the previously-cancelled Total War: Arena for the Chinese market, also with the help of NetEase. And Creative Assembly teased the free-to-play MOBA-style spin-off may be brought back to life on these shores.

"While we shut down the game in the west last year, we still see loads of potential there and luckily NetEase wholeheartedly agrees," CA said.

"Arena will make its return as a China-exclusive, but we'd love to bring it back to the rest of the world some day."

Both Elysium and Arena launch in China as part of a deal between Creative Assembly and NetEase for the publishing rights to Total War's historical catalogue up to and including Total War: Three Kingdoms, which enjoyed enormous success in China. You can't officially publish games in China without a local publishing partner, so CA signed on the dotted line with NetEase.

The developer stressed this deal doesn't change anything for western players, nor does it affect its roadmap of new releases.

"It just means that more people around the world will be able to play more of our games," Creative Assembly said in a FAQ on the deal with NetEase. "That's a good thing for our studio, and in turn, a good thing for Total War players.

"We've always developed Total War games in line with local age rating and legal requirements based on the country they are sold in. We'll be working with NetEase to make sure our games can be released in China, but that won't affect the content of our games in other countries.

"We keep full control of our studio, our titles, our road map, and the support we give our community. We'll work closely with NetEase to deliver on player needs in China specifically, but if you live anywhere else you won't even notice. Business as usual."

It's busy times for Creative Assembly. It's working on nine projects including a "major new IP" - an unannounced tactical team-based shooter.

Reddit Commentary:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/cl3e96/total_war_elysium_announcement_and_return_of/
https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/ckzphf/total_war_elysium_announced/
https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/cl10rg/total_war_elysium_a_new_collectible_card_game_in/
Steam review bombing - unhappy with the partnership:

https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/clvfea/it_looks_like_china_isnt_too_happy_with_ca/
https://www.reddit.com/r/totalwar/comments/clvc4a/steam_reviews_for_three_kingdoms_are_starting_to/

YouTuber Commentary:


6:25 - Total War: ELYSIUM & NetEase



NetEase Attack of the Clones:

http://www.sixthtone.com/news/1002059/attack-of-the-clones-netease-denies-copying-after-pubg-sues
http://gamehub.vn/hub/after-being-sued-by-pubg-netease-also-sues-clone-game.131443/

*SNIP*
However, recently Chinese developer NetEase has had an unexpected notice. While being sued for imitating of PUBG, NetEase says that it would also sue any Studio that uses the "creative features" found in Rules of Survival and Knives Out. But how interesting it is this Chinese developer does not mention Bluehole, PUBG Corp or PUBG in its announcement.

So what is next? mobile CoH card game coming to China?. Sega/CA worry about community backlash from western PC and Steam players? China-exclusive
pay to win coming back?
NetEase Launches Game Studio in Montréal, Canada (July 22, 2019):
http://ir.netease.com/news-releases/news-release-details/netease-launches-game-studio-montreal-canada

CoH immortal confirmed.

Dark times are ahead.

Dark times are ahead.

China is involved in a lot of big companies in the west, and these 'western companies' want to expand into China that has a fast-growing middle class.
This is a big reason why censoring games to suit China is now their goal.

The gaming industry are under siege and this will undoubtedly start a consumer revolt with millions of gamers defending their hobby.
The boiling frog theory is describing the current situation. Each gaming community has a boiling point as to how much censorship and "EA surprise mechanics" they will tolerate?

It's quite possible ftp CoH games will go China/Asia exclusives similar to Creative Assembly/NetEase that likely includes censorship.
See below quote, Sega don't consider Steam as the primary market for ftp CoH/Total War/Football Manager.

Sega Europe Executives talk about current industry trends & CoH + Total War ftp expanding to Asia | 21st June 2019:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-06-21-sega-sees-streamings-potential-to-reach-new-audiences

"We're seeing growth coming from new markets or markets that are starting to open in a different kind of way, particularly in Asia and particularly China. Then within our existing portfolio, we're constantly looking to find ways to broaden the appeal of our existing franchises, whether that's Total War, Football Manager, or Company of Heroes. Whatever it is, we have a constant mission to extend the reach of those. And on top of that, we look at new IP opportunities as well to further increase our offering."

Asia = ftp games dominate the PC + mobile market and this will not change anytime soon.

CoH/Total War China censorship and Trojan Horses?
Both Chinese and Western authorities don't like violent video games. As usual, games make an easy scapegoat.

This is us - used as scapegoats:

For the SJW/cry bullies/thought police controlled studios the self-censorship is insane and worse than China.

1) Daily caller: Female Game Developer Fired For Calling Other Women ‘Pretty’.
2) A positive, studio leadership do the right thing and fire SJWs attacking a streamer.





Creative Assembly has begun censoring Total War games and Relic games might be next.

China has finally lifted its 14-year ban on video games, 2015
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-lifts-14-year-ban-on-gaming-consoles-2015-7?r=US&IR=T
The sale of consoles was banned in 2000 by the Chinese government amid fears games could have "adverse effects" on Chinese youth. However, this ban was largely ineffectual, with imported grey market consoles being sold openly in many Chinese cities.

At very least CoH expanding to console is relative safe from Chinese censorship

Western gamers blame Chinese gamers for cheating and hacking, is this fair? Fact about China, Feb. 16, 2018:

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' problem with cheaters has been a major issue for the game, and recent data from the company's anti-cheat tech provider, BattlEye indicates that 99% of accounts that have been banned for cheating are from China.
Youxi Story reports the statistic, adding that 46% of PUBG's total players are based in China. It makes the problem a significant one in PUBG's most important territory.
One million accounts were banned for cheating in January, with BattlEye saying that "things continue to escalate" in spite of this.
https://nordic.ign.com/xbox-one-gaming-hardware/10457/news/99-of-pubgs-banned-cheaters-are-from-china

*sigh*