An unannounced mobile World of Warcraft spin-off in development at NetEase has been canceled after three years in development, according to a new report.
According to Bloomberg, the project was codenamed Neptune and was set to be an original MMO set in the Warcraft universe. "It wouldn’t be a direct translation of the popular online game but a spinoff, set during a different time period," according to the report.
The game had reportedly been in development for three years, and its cancellation has been said to affect a team of 100 developers, only some of whom will be able to transfer within the company. Bloomberg says that Blizzard and NetEase "disagreed over terms and ultimately called a halt to the project." Representatives of Blizzard and NetEase did not provide comment on the report.
Blizzard and NetEase had previously released Diablo Immortal, which garnered millions of downloads and earned millions of dollars after its launch earlier this year, despite controversy over the game's microtransactions. The game's launch in China was postponed just a few days before it was planned to take place.
Another mobile game, Warcraft Arclight Rumble, was announced earlier this year. Arclight Rumble is not an MMO, however, bearing more similarities to MOBAs like League of Legends and Dota 2 or the highly popular mobile title Clash Royale.
Over in the proper World of Warcraft, Blizzard has confirmed that Dragonflight is on track to launch this year, and has confirmed that Wrath of the Lich King Classic is set to launch in September.
For more of the best MMORPGs, you know where to click.
WoW veteran says the MMO's devs had to make "ten times the amount of quests" as originally planned to sate playtesters, and now the game has 38,000 of them
World of Warcraft devs used to joke about the MMO making $1 million per month - just months before it smashed through $15 million in monthly revenue
