Recently, a wave of frustration has swept through social media as several NetEase games on the OPPO channel suddenly went dark. This move has left users who frequently play NetEase games on the OPPO platform feeling blindsided.
On November 4, an OPPO customer service rep spilled the beans, saying, “Yeah, some games have stopped working because our partnership with NetEase has ended. The shutdown times vary for each game, and we don’t know when they’ll be back up.”
When asked if this meant changes were coming to their partnerships with other game makers, the OPPO rep replied, “We haven’t heard anything about that yet. All other games are still available; it’s just that our deal with NetEase has expired.”
We’ve reached out to NetEase and OPPO for more info, but so far, crickets.
It’s worth noting that as far back as last November, NetEase’s “Onmyoji: Yokai House” announced it was shutting down its OPPO channel version, followed by other NetEase games like “Onmyoji: Hundred Tales” and “Eternal 7 Days.”
Fast forward to 2025, and more games have been shutting down on the OPPO platform. In August, two of NetEase’s biggest titles, “Fantasy Westward Journey” and “Rate of the Earth,” announced they were pulling out of the OPPO platform. In September, popular mobile games like “Genshin Impact,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” and “Journey to the West” also announced they were shutting down their OPPO channel versions. In October, “Against the Cold” and “Pro Evolution Soccer” joined the list.
Prior to this, the two companies had collaborated on some big projects. For example, when NetEase’s post-apocalyptic survival game “The Day After Tomorrow” launched on the OPPO game center, the two companies teamed up for a massive promo, resulting in 800,000 new users and 1.6 million active users on day one. OPPO even became the title sponsor of NetEase’s Olympic project and co-hosted the NetEase Entertainment Cross-Border Festival. In the gaming sector, the two companies worked together on numerous games across various genres, including RPGs, strategy games, and casual games.
Regarding the shutdown of multiple games on the OPPO channel, NetEase has yet to issue a unified statement. However, the shutdown notices for each game mention adjustments to their cooperative operation strategy.
Industry insiders think this might be related to the traditional Android channel’s “high commission” model. For a long time, domestic mobile game distribution has relied on mobile phone manufacturers’ app stores, like OPPO, Huawei, and Xiaomi, with commission rates as high as 50%. This has limited the profit margins of game developers. As NetEase and other game makers have grown and increased their investment in research and development, they’ve gained more bargaining power to negotiate with channels, trying to reduce their dependence on traditional Android channels and increase their profit margins.
NetEase’s Q2 2025 financial report shows that its net revenue was 27.9 billion yuan, a 9.4% year-over-year increase, lower than the market’s expected 28.4 billion yuan. The net revenue from games and related value-added services was 22.8 billion yuan, a 13.7% year-over-year increase. The net profit attributable to shareholders was 8.6 billion yuan, down from 10.3 billion yuan in the previous quarter and 6.8 billion yuan in the same period last year. Research and development expenses were 4.4 billion yuan, the same as the previous quarter and down from 4.5 billion yuan in the same period last year.
