Following the Daryl Morey dust-up involving the NBA and China, the war of words between the US and China has officially hit the gaming world. In a post-match interview during the Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament, Hearthstone player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai decided he had seen enough oppression, and while wearing a gas mask and goggles resembling those worn by Hong Kong protesters, called for Hong Kong liberation. Within 48 hours, blitzchung had been removed from Hearthstone Grandmasters, banned from play for a year, and had all his prize money rescinded, while the two casters in the interview were fired as well. Let’s talk about this.
[BREAKING] Hong Kong Hearthstone player @blitzchungHS calls for liberation of his country in post-game interview:https://t.co/3AgQAaPioj
— 🎃 Inven Global 🎃 (@InvenGlobal) October 6, 2019
@Matthieist #Hearthstone pic.twitter.com/DnaMSEaM4g
Breaking: Effective immediately, Blizzard has removed Hong Kong Hearthstone player blitzchung from Hearthstone Grand Masters, rescinded all his prize money, and have suspended him from pro play for one year for his recent interview.
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) October 8, 2019
Statement below https://t.co/ByI8vrZk1a pic.twitter.com/3h6jKYezMQ
Blizzard has also disabled comments on the news which are normally open, and from scrolling back through hundreds of posts this is the only time they’ve done that
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) October 8, 2019
can’t imagine why pic.twitter.com/KvCyLXpmtU
Blizzard Is A US Company
First things first, let’s make something clear. Blizzard is a company founded and based in the United States. Sure, Tencent has a 5% stake in Activision-Blizzard, but Blizzard is in no way beholden to Chinese interests (aside from monetary interests, of course). In other words, while a Chinese gaming company would basically be forced to remove a player who did what blitzchung did, the only reason Blizzard did this was so they would not lose money. They are cowards.
This Is Indefensible
Some people will surely come out of the woodwork to claim that what blitzchung did was against Blizzard rules, and that they had no choice but to ban him. This argument immediately falls apart when you look at the part of the rules that Blizzard cited in banning him. Let’s take a look at the part cited on the Hearthstone website:
2019 HEARTHSTONE® GRANDMASTERS OFFICIAL COMPETITION RULES v1.4 p.12, Section 6.1 (o)
Engaging in any act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image will result in removal from Grandmasters and reduction of the player’s prize total to $0 USD, in addition to other remedies which may be provided for under the Handbook and Blizzard’s Website Terms.
In other words, Blizzard punished blitzchung because he said something that was bad, and the reason it was bad is because Blizzard decided that what he said was bad. This means that Blizzard is officially taking a stand on Hong Kong liberation by claiming that calling for Hong Kong liberation “damages Blizzard image”. This is also a useful example of why the idea of staying away from politics is nonsensical.
“Keep Politics Out Of Games/Sports!”
Literally everything is political. Choosing to be “non-political” is actually a full-throated defense of the status quo, which in this specific case is the ongoing tyranny of the Chinese government. Blizzard would likely not have banned a player who claimed that Hong Kong should not be free and instead remain under China’s thumb, despite the fact that it is fully as political of a statement as it is to call for Hong Kong liberation. Also, before anyone gets too cute, remember that Blizzard’s decision has nothing to do with China’s commitment to Communism, and everything to do with the US’s devotion to capitalism.
So What Can We Do?
So, at the end of the day, how do people who love video games respond to this act of astonishing cowardice by Blizzard? Boycott them and yell at them. Delete Battle.net from your computer and refuse to give Activision-Blizzard another cent. Boycott Blizzcon. Or, if you already have tickets for Blizzcon, support Hong Kong liberation as loudly as you can so that Blizzard knows they can’t hide from this. After all, there’s nothing they can do to you yet as a US citizen and non-Hearthstone player.
