“We are very angered and disappointed at what happened at the event and do not condone it in any way. We also highly object the spreading of personal political beliefs in this manner…We will always respect and defend the pride of our country.”
Dear Blizzard,
The statement quoted above is an unconscionable thing for an American company to represent in a foreign country. If what this means to say is that this is one of Blizzard’s corporate values, I don’t know if I can continue to support your company or its products.
I’m not pulling the trigger on leaving you yet because I recognize that the situation may still be fluid. You haven’t been deleting messages on the forums anymore; you’ve consolidated into a single thread. Which says to me, at the very least, that you are aware of the anger and you are listening. My hope is that, sometime soon, you will see that you’ve acted in error, you’ve acted against your core corporate philosophy, against the spirit of American democratic values, and that you’ll reverse course.
I know that, in the boardrooms at Blizzard HQ in Irvine, you must be discussing this as we speak. I know tensions must be high. I know that it may be hard to do the right thing when it seems like so much else is on the line.
But take a cue from some of the heroes whose stories you’ve given us over the years. Doing the right thing isn’t always easy. Take them as your lead, and do right by all of us. Not just us, though: remember that Blitzchung is one of your customers, too.
Hopefully I’ll see you in 8.3. But if you decide the yuan is more valuable than my dollars, well. It was a fun run while it lasted.