Background
Overwatch 2 used to be available in China thanks to a partnership between NetEase and Blizzard. Unfortunately, they failed to renew a contract which led to Overwatch 2 being unavailable in China since 2023-01-23. One might hope that the Microsoft deal and new leadership will make it easier to get a new contract. There's been some news about a new contract with NetEase, but will it lead to anything?
Will Overwatch 2 become available in China again before 2025?
Resolution
This question will resolve YES when Blizzard makes the game available in China. Resolves NO otherwise.
Update 2024-29-12 (PST) (AI summary of creator comment): Update from creator
Official Availability: Only resolves YES if Blizzard officially makes Overwatch 2 available in China, not through unofficial channels like the international version of Steam.
Access via Loopholes: Accessing the game through the international version of Steam without a VPN does not constitute an official return.
Resolution Based on Official Channels: The resolution depends on Overwatch 2 being officially accessible through Blizzard's partnership in China.
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Shouldn’t this resolve YES?
Chinese people are legally playing a Chinese language Overwatch in China, without a VPN.
https://nikopartners.com/chinese-gamers-reaction-to-overwatch-2/
While the debut on Steam will technically allow Chinese gamers to play Overwatch again, thanks to the international version of Steam being accessible without a VPN in China and the game shipping with a Simplified Chinese localization, it hasn’t led to much positive sentiment.
Another more positive aspect is that Overwatch 2 achieved 75,000 global concurrent players on Steam at launch. It was also the 10th highest grossing title on the international version of Steam in China for the week ending August 15, indicating that Chinese PC gamers were still jumping back into the Steam version despite the complaints.
@OP The question itself seems to be asking about an official return not really covered by the article you are sharing.
The most important context is that the article is from last year and the question was posed this year. So either @Pazzaz was misinformed about what they were asking or the intention of the question excludes this "technical" resolution
@JoshuaWilkes I'm not from/in China so I didn't know they could use normal Steam, I thought they had to use "Chinese Steam", which doesn't have Overwatch.
I guess if you read the question literally, then it should resolve YES, because they can access Overwatch in China. But then the question doesn't make much sense, because it's about when Overwatch will return to China, which it can't do if it's already available.
If we go by the spirit of the question, then it should resolve NO, because nothing has changed since I asked the question, and accessing it in China through the international version of Steam feels like a loophole. There aren't any Chinese servers, and lots of news articles talked about a "possible return" of Overwatch to China. Even Blizzard themselves have talked as if their games aren't available in China.
So I'm leaning towards resolving it NO... though it's a tough call.
@Pazzaz I think that’s not unreasonable. @JoshuaWilkes’ point about it already being available in China via steam at time of the question is a good one.