simplified Chinese: 网易; pinyin: WǎngYì

NetEase

NetEase (Chinese: 网易; pinyin: WǎngYì) is an internet and technology company. It was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. The official headquarters is located in Hangzhou, China. They offer various services such as advertising, electronic mail services, online shopping, social media, and mobile/PC game development. They even have their freemium app which is a music streaming service called ‘NetEase Cloud Music’. Interestingly enough, it also serves as a place for promoting electronic commerce and has a few social media aspects incorporated into it.

Under NetEase Inc. is a search engine called Youdao. It serves multiple purposes, such as being used as a dictionary for English, French, Korean, and Chinese languages. Youdao also provides a translator, as well as various academic programs such as tutoring and education sites created by NetEase. Youdao is also utilized in 163.com. It is similar to what we use, Gmail. This service is considered ‘freemium’, as it mixes together free-to-use services along with services that are premium, or obtained through paying for it. One of their free services is subscribing to the official newsletter. The creation of this domain name originated from netizens having to dial 163 in order to access the internet.

Internationally, NetEase Games is talked about the most due to having headquarters in many parts of the world; a few of them being Guangzhou, Shanghai, South Korea, Singapore, the UK, and the United States. Another reason for their popularity could be due to the assortment of games they have developed. They are not confined to one genre and branch out, which allows for a wider spread to the players they want to attract. This includes MMOs, turn-based RPGs, survival horror, deck-builders, and much more. A few examples of these games are Identity V, Onmyoji, Dead By Daylight Mobile, and Ace Racer. There have been hints of the company developing a new game with the rise in Open World games. Project: Mugen is the first to branch out to multiple platforms such as the PC, Mobile, and PlayStation.

However, the rise in popularity could stem from NetEase Games incorporating many other entertainment branches to reach the audience. For example, there are many animated series, albums, and physical goods such as illustration books, figures, plushies, and even clothing collaborations available for purchase to those who like the game. The games themselves have also had their fair share of popular collaborations and have even created community competitions for designers who aspire to have their works shown in the game itself.

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“Onmyoji Fanart Contest 2021.” Onmyoji, https://en.onmyojigame.com/master/result/. Accessed 29 November 2023.
Phadke, Mithila. “China’s strange and baffling quirk.” BBC, 10 February 2019, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190210-why-china-is-obsessed-with-numbers. Accessed 29 November 2023.
“Netease | Company Overview & News.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, www.forbes.com/companies/netease/?sh=69ca8a3728f0.