Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, the mobile game developed and operated by NetEase, is trending on Weibo because the game is “treating the players differently”.
Recently, a blogger on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) posted a screenshot showing off some no longer attainable items she received along with some free in-game currency. The blogger explained that one of her friends was attending a NetEase meeting, and Ding Lei, the founder and CEO of NetEase, gave all attendees special in-game gift boxes.
The original post on Xiaohongshu
The situation has lit public wrath among Harry Potter: Magic Awakened players, who managed to get the topic up to the trending board on Weibo, tagging #Harry Potter: Connection Awakened.
Trending on Weibo
LOFTER, a light blog launched by NetEase, posted an official statement clarifying this was an offline event gift for those invited content creators and that the distribution of gifts only went to those verified accounts.
LOFTER statement
The blogger who triggered the backlash also deleted her original post and made an apology saying her previous action was out of vanity and the item she obtained was actually time-limited and would expire after a week. But the furious players seem not to be buying their explanation.
The apology post