The American video game company Blizzard Entertainment banned the Hong Kong Hearthstone esports player Ng Wai Chung, better known as Blitzchung, in October 2019 for showing support for the demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020 during an official streaming event.
After receiving feedback from the public, including a boycott and a letter from members of Congress in the United States, Blizzard decided to lessen the punishment but not do rid of it entirely.
Blitzchung Controversy
In light of the uproar surrounding Ng Wai “blitzchung” Chung, Blizzard has announced that it will refund Chung’s winnings and reduce his ban from competitive Hearthstone play from a year to six months.
It does not, however, apologize to blitzchung or pardon him for whatever consequences he has faced because he supported the Hong Kong liberation movement.
J. Even though Blizzard will reduce the punishment, “there is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the purpose of the event and disrupting or derailing the broadcast,” Blizzard Entertainment president Allen Brack wrote to Blizzard’s community to address the incident last week’s Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament.
Even though “Every Voice Matters,” Brack says, “the official broadcast needs to be about the tournament and be a place where all are welcome.
In support of that, we want to keep the official channels focused on the game.” Brack reiterates that blitzchung “used his segment to make a statement about the situation in Hong Kong—in violation of rules he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action.”
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The Blizzard China Controversy Explained
According to Brack, “our contacts in China had no bearing on our choice,” and the opinions stated by blitzchung were irrelevant.
In addition, Blizzard has lowered the suspension period for the shout casters it said it would “immediately cease working with” to six months.
There was also talk about what went wrong and how Blizzard plans to improve in the future. We reacted too hastily and our approach wasn’t acceptable,” Brack says.
The motto “Play Nice; Play Fair” is one of Blizzard’s core values, and he wants to make sure the company always provides a “safe and inclusive atmosphere for all our players”
Blizzard will pay up blitzchung’s $10,000 USD award because he concedes that he played fairly throughout the event. To be fair, “pre- and post-match conduct, especially when a player takes recognition for winning in a broadcast,” is also part of the game.
This conflict began on October 6 after blitzchung’s victory in a Hearthstone Grandmasters match. In defiance of China’s new anti-mask rule for protestors, he was interviewed on the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stream by caster Virtual and Mr. Yee while wearing a facemask.
The broadcast switched to commercial, and all on-demand content was deleted when he yelled, “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our age!”
Blizzard announced the punishment on October 8, saying that blitzchung had broken the rules of the 2019 Hearthstone Grandmasters Official Competition and that he will be banned from Hearthstone esports for a year and have his $10,000 USD prize money taken away.
When asked about the verdict by IGN, blitzchung replied, “I expected the decision by Blizzard, I think it’s unfair, but I do accept their decision. I’m not regretful of what I said. I shouldn’t be terrified of these kinds of white terror.”
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