[Jiggly]

Many of you who are into games have probably heard about the issues Blizzard are facing. Blizzard recently removed a pro player called Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai from a Hearthstone tournament with a 12 month ban. also removing his winnings.
This occurred after a post-game interview, on October 6th, where he voiced support for the Hong Kong protesters. In response, many gamers began to boycott Blizzard by cancelling subscriptions and deleting their accounts.

The gamers are not the only ones that are angry, many employees have taken action as well. Employees have staged walk outs in protest and covered up company signs with slogans saying "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters".



Much of the argument from Blizzard's perspective is that they are trying to avoid a ban on their service in China, as several other companies have faced.
Here's an article covering some of the key points.

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Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, also tweeted about the situation and China's influence on US companies. "People who don't live in #China must either self-censor or face dismissal & suspensions," he tweeted. "China using access to market as leverage to crush free speech globally."

What are your thoughts?

[taylostolo]

I have not heard of this story in depth until just now and personally i think terms are terms and china needs to take the sick out of their ass and trump has been giving them the good fire so things will change in time in other words #MAGA

[Drako]

You know what I find funniest about this? Three other players who were put in Blitzchung's place held up a 'Free Hong Kong' sign in their stream, and no repercussions were set for them. So, they decided to remove themselves from the tournament. Blizzard obviously didn't want to loose China, and couldn't care less about anything or anyone else. But they pissed off their community, which is way worse. If they had just ignored Blitzchung, nothing would have come up.

[mothered]

But they pissed off their community, which is way worse.

Spot-on.

The consequences could've been (and probably should've been) a lot worse.

[Drako]

Blizzard just released their first statement on this. They said they would reduce his suspension, and return all of his prize money. I guess Blizzard realized they would be looking at a steep decline in revenue if they didn't go with something in favor of the community.

[Synthx]

Honestly this is my first time hearing about this. I don't know too much on the story. I understand the reason Blizzard took action the way they did, but I feel it was a mistake on their end. If they want to lose players over allowing someone to agree with protests, then they got what they wanted.

[Jiggly]

Blizzard just released their first statement on this. They said they would reduce his suspension, and return all of his prize money. I guess Blizzard realized they would be looking at a steep decline in revenue if they didn't go with something in favor of the community.

I'm pleased to hear this! I understand their reasoning for their initial action, but the loss of revenue from global outrage could outweigh loss from just China, I assume.

[Oni]

It's a move in the right direction, but it's really sad that Blizzard is so amiable to Chinese influence.

[Jiggly]

It's a move in the right direction, but it's really sad that Blizzard is so amiable to Chinese influence.

I'm also pretty surprised they didn't anticipate the backlash. What did they think would happen - That nobody would notice?

[Drako]

It's a move in the right direction, but it's really sad that Blizzard is so amiable to Chinese influence.

I'm also pretty surprised they didn't anticipate the backlash. What did they think would happen - That nobody would notice?

People are also using Mei from Overwatch to protest China. I guess they're using her to spite Blizzard?