- NetEase stock ( NASDAQ: NTES ) is sharply bucking a broadly lower market in Communications stocks, up 5.7% and climbing after reports that a long delay for a key game is over.
- The company will launch Diablo Immortal, which it co-developed with Activision Blizzard ( NASDAQ: ATVI ), in China on July 25 , Bloomberg reports.
- That's a month later than planned, though delays in Chinese videogame approvals have ramped up in recent months; the game will mark one of the year's few blockbuster releases given China's regulatory limits.
- NetEase had announced a surprise postponement of the June release that it attributed to some content fixes, though the report notes it was truly because of a deleted social media post from the Diablo Immortal Weibo account interpreted as criticism of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
- China resumed some game approvals in April, but neither NetEase nor bigger rival Tencent ( OTCPK:TCEHY ) had been included in approvals since then.
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NetEase gains 6% on report China launch of 'Diablo Immortal' is close