NetEase inc. reports 24.4 billion in net revenue

Chinese internet and online game giant NetEase Inc. reported, on Thursday, 24.4 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) in net revenues during the third quarter of this year, an increase of 10.1 percent year-on-year.

The expenditure on research and development stood at 4.0 billion yuan in the July-September period, accounting for 16 percent of the company’s total revenue, according to the quarterly financial report. NetEase has invested nearly 11 billion yuan in R&D in the first three quarters.

Games and related value-added services net revenues came in at 18.7 billion yuan during the quarter ending in September, up 9.1 percent from a year ago. Cloud Music, the music streaming arm of NetEase, saw its net revenues rise 22.5 percent on a yearly basis to 2.4 billion yuan.

Youdao, an intelligent learning firm under NetEase, posted 1.4 billion yuan in net revenue, up 1.1 percent compared with the third quarter of 2021.

Online game company Blizzard Entertainment Inc. said on Thursday it will suspend most Blizzard game services on the Chinese mainland due to the expiration of the current licensing agreements with NetEase on Jan 23, 2023

NetEased confirmed these licenses will expire in January 2023 and will not be renewed. “Net revenues and net income contribution from these licensed Blizzard games represented low single digits as a percentage of NetEase's total net revenues and net income in 2021 and in the first nine months,” the company said.

The expiration of such licenses will have no material impact on NetEase's financial results, it added.