Blizzard's Mists of Pandaria Begins Beta in China; Netease to Turn Down Diablo 3?

Today brings a plethora of Blizzard-related China gaming news. First up, the China-focused World of Warcraft expansion Mists of Pandaria apparently entered a very limited closed beta in China. If that excites you, though, it probably shouldn’t — estimates indicate that the game might be released sometime in the next nine months. Blizzard is notorious for delaying product releases, though, so that means we’ll probably have to wait at least another year and a half.

Speaking of long-delayed Blizzard games, Chinese gamers are still waiting to get their hands on the official version of Diablo 3, but there is apparently some question as to whether Netease will operate the game. Rumor has it there’s a difference of opinion within the company as to whether to take on Diablo, although as with all Chinese internet rumors, our usual grains-of-salt warning applies. If Netease were to refuse Diablo 3, that could potentially further delay the game’s release here as Blizzard would be forced to find a new company and possibly start negotiations all over again.

So it’s bad news all around for Chinese gamers who are hoping to play new Blizzard games soon. But all hope isn’t lost; there are still pineapples and other people’s servers.

[via Sina Tech]