World of Warcraft Mobile Game Cancelled Three Years Into Development: Report

Codenamed ‘Neptune,’ the WoW game was billed as an MMORPG set in the Warcraft universe, albeit separate from the PC version.

By Rahul Chettiyar | Updated: 4 August 2022 17:11 IST

World of Warcraft Mobile Game Cancelled Three Years Into Development: Report

Photo Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

Warcraft mobile experience had been limited to Hearthstone for years

Highlights

Internal disagreements between Blizzard and NetEase led to cancellation
Warcraft mobile was billed as a spinoff, featuring a different timeline
The other mobile game Warcraft Arclight Rumble is marked safe for now

World of Warcraft mobile game has reportedly been cancelled. Internal disagreements between Activision Blizzard and NetEase resulted in both parties axing the smartphone project three years into development. The WoW mobile title, codenamed ‘Neptune,' was billed as a massively multiplayer online (MMO) role-playing game (RPG) set in the Warcraft universe. According to Bloomberg, the WoW mobile game was a spin-off project, separate from the PC version and featured a different timeline. It was slated to release on Android and iOS platforms.

To date, the only mobile experience based on the Warcraft universe had been in Hearthstone — a tactical card-based game that builds upon the existing lore. But in March, Blizzard confirmed two new Warcraft mobile games on the horizon. One of them was confirmed to be Warcraft Arclight Rumble, a Clash of Clan-esque strategy game utilising a vertical screen approach, while the other was envisioned as the mobile counterpart to the PC version. The unnamed game — now revealed as Neptune — went through three years of development before getting cancelled.

Chinese games distributor NetEase has let go more than 100 employees tasked with the development, with only a few members receiving internal transfers. The two companies have been partners since 2008, working on Hearthstone and handling game publishing in China. The cancellation comes at an interesting time, as Blizzard tries getting into the Asian mobile gaming market, via their recently launched Diablo Immortal. The game, while loaded with a questionable microtransaction model, has managed to maintain a healthy player base since day one — surpassing $100 million (about Rs. 793 crore) in in-game revenue.

The Bloomberg report also notes a third Warcraft mobile game that got cancelled — an augmented reality (AR) title similar to Pokémon Go. The game was internally called Orbis, and had been in development for “more than four years.” Bloomberg claims that these cancellations have cast uncertainty over the ongoing relationship between Activision and NetEase. Blizzard is also conducting an internal (friends-and-family) alpha test for an early build of Diablo IV right now. “Players are under NDA, but I'm hearing mostly positive buzz,” games reporter Jason Schreier said on Twitter.

Warcraft Arclight Rumble, the tower defence game, is still on track to release across Android and iOS devices. Not to mention, the publisher has its next World of Warcraft (PC) expansion, Dragonflight, scheduled to launch later this year.

Is PS Plus better than Xbox Game Pass now? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: warcraft, world of warcraft, wow, warcraft mobile, wow mobile game, warcraft mobile mmo, blizzard, activision, netease, warcraft arclight rumble, android, ios