NetEase built its own livestreaming platform for 17 years — then shut it down for good

NetEase launched CC in 2009 as a voice-chat tool for end-game player communication, the kind of utility gamers used to coordinate raids. In 2016, as livestreaming took off across China, NetEase rebranded it into CC Live, a dedicated gaming livestreaming platform, betting that its existing gamer userbase would convert into streamers and viewers. It grew to over 280 million registered users and more than 200,000 contracted streamers at its peak.

The platform never escaped a single monetization model: viewer gifting to streamers, with no diversified revenue beyond it. As Douyin, Bilibili and dedicated gaming platforms built comprehensive ecosystems — short video, esports broadcasting rights, algorithmic recommendation at a scale NetEase's standalone platform couldn't match — CC Live's gift-based economics became structurally unable to fund the content moderation, server costs and streamer bidding wars the market demanded.

On June 30, 2026, NetEase announced CC Live would shut down entirely, stopping new recharges and registrations immediately and setting a final termination date of August 31, 2026 at 3pm. Existing users had their virtual balances and unpaid streamer commissions converted to NetEase points. The company framed it as a 'product and operational strategy adjustment' — closing a self-built livestreaming vertical it had maintained for 17 years to redirect resources toward game development.

The shutdown ends NetEase's longest-running attempt to own a livestreaming platform outright, rather than depend on Douyin, Bilibili or Huya for its games' visibility. The gamer-utility roots that once gave CC an advantage — built-in access to NetEase's own player base — were not enough once livestreaming became a platform-scale content business rather than a companion feature.