Update 5: Hong Kong has lost its freedom to China through successful implementation of their security law. Blizzard punished a player with a ban as well as firing its own casters, because that player promoted Hong Kongâs freedom; and now here we are. I believe I speak for many when I say, this is extremely shameful.
For anyone wondering:
Blizzard banned a player for supporting Hong Kong protesters. Blizzard is also censoring posts about this. Please do the right thing and spread the word.
This was overwhelmingly disrespectful to the people of Hong Kong and the fired casters just doing their jobs.
We live in a society where despite making up only 13% of the gaming market, China is asking for 100% of the censorship of Hong Kong. We live in THE Blizzard World where Itâs Okay To Be Censored. Somebody once told me that Blizzard Is Right About Censorship, but gamers need to rise up and do a pro gamer move for Hong Kong. The world could always use more based heroes. We can Make A Difference Again. Are you with Mei?
Hong Kong Is A Mei Zing
Update: Mei adopted as symbol of Hong Kong freedom.
Update 2: Over a dozen Blizzard employees walk out over Blizzardâs Blitzchung ban.
Update 3: Blizzard releases official response: âMoving forward, we will continue to apply tournament rules to ensure our official broadcasts remain focused on the game and are not a platform for divisive social or political views.â Is now giving the prize, changed the ban to 6 months, changed firing the casters to a 6 month âsuspensionâ, and all of this came directly from President of Blizzard J. Allen Brack. At this time it is believed this is not an out-of-season April Fools joke.
Update 4: Blizzcon Umbrella Boycott November 1st planned by gamers, promoted on https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtestBlizzcon/, encouraged by online rights group Fight for the Future, and coordinated here: (Discord group on website)
He also used Blizzardâs stream platform as a soap box to push politics when itâs against ToS. The punishment was a little too much but what he did was not right as well. If you want to push these kind of opinions then go to social media or youtube.
If itâs against their Terms of Service, then those terms should be broken and Blizzard deserves our criticism for having those terms and the balls to enforce those unethical terms.
Blizzard is just protecting itself for moments like these, they donât want to deal with politics. If they played the âgood guysâ it would really screw with them as a business.
A forum is social media, sure but like this forum is not about politics but OverwatchâŚ
Why would any party bring up something that is not about the official activity they are supposed to be interviewing for? Thereâs a difference between âhonest statementsâ and âstatements that have nothing to do with what youâre talking aboutâ. There were a multitude of other ways to get their message across, they didnât need to push their political ideals down the throats of people who are simply there to watch a game tournament be played.
No, Blitzchung used Blizzardâs streaming platform as a soapbox to spread his political views. Noble as it may be it was nevertheless against the rules.
Blizzard has a vested interest in remaining apolitical, not just for their investors but for their employees in Taiwan making a living as well, which is why such policies are instituted in the first place. They have no obligation to act as a soapbox for other peopleâs views.
Itâs not about hating freedom but saying something political at a Hearthstone tournament is not a place for it. If I was Blizz I would punish him as well
You are literally flooding forum. Even if people can be agreed with you or not, that guy broke Tos he know and accepted, so blizzard have no choice. And even you think that this Tos âmust be brokeâ that isnât the way to do. And no, he doesnât deserve a prize.
Honestly, businesses shouldnât always think strictly of their bottom line anyway.
âBut theyâll lose money and what sense does that make?â
I believe businesses should have a responsibility when it comes to some very basic things. Supporting those who abuse human rights and trample on democracy isnât something I think Blizzard should be doing, regardless of the bottom line.
Iâm not sure if you have ever worked for an entertainment company but Iâll use mine as an example.
I work as a QA tester. Most companies make you sign a contract about not only keeping public contact to a minimum (this was the case at Facebook, T-Mobile and Microsoft) and if you need public info you have to go through some sort of community manager.
At my current job I am free to go on the forums, Reddit and our Discord. This however makes me a representative of that company. Meaning in a way my statements are statements of my company.
Now if I were to say what he said in an interview or on any of our public facing media platforms I would be fired. Full stop. He is a person who regularly interacts with the public. He had to have known the risks.
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