Blizzard has responded to the controversy concerning Ng Wai “blitzchung” Chung, stating that it will give blitzchung his prize cash and will reduce his ban from skilled Hearthstone play from 1 year to six months. Even so, it does not give an apology or eliminate all punishments against blitzchung following his help of Hong Kong’s liberation movement.J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment, wrote a letter to Blizzard’s neighborhood to address the occasion that occurred at final week’s Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament, saying that even although Blizzard will lower the punishment, “there is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the goal of the occasion and disrupting or derailing the broadcast.”
Brack reiterated that blitzchung “utilized his segment to make a statement about the predicament in Hong Kong—in violation of guidelines he acknowledged and understood, and this is why we took action.” He continues by saying that even although “Each Voice Matters,” the “official broadcast requires to be about the tournament and to be a location exactly where all are welcome. In help of that, we want to maintain the official channels focused on the game.”
The Blizzard China Controversy Explained
Brack says that the views expressed by blitzchung have been not the situation right here, and that “our relationships in China had no influence on our selection.”
In regards to the shoutcasters that Blizzard announced it would “straight away cease operating with,” Blizzard has decreased their suspension to six months as properly.
Also discussed was how Blizzard could have performed greater, and how it moves forward from this. Brack begins by mentioning that “our method wasn’t sufficient, and we reacted as well immediately.”
He desires to assure that Blizzard maintains a “protected and inclusive atmosphere for all our players, and that our guidelines and processes are clear,” with all of this adhering to 1 of Blizzard’s values of “Play Good Play Fair.”He acknowledges that blitzchung did play fair in the tournament, which is why Blizzard will give him his prize cash of $10,000 USD. Even so, playing fair “also contains pre-and post-match conduct, specially when a player accepts recognition for winning in a broadcast.”
The inciting incident occurred on October six following blitzchung’s victory in a Hearthstone Grandmasters match. He was interviewed on the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stream by caster Virtual and Mr. Yee, all though wearing a facemask that was worn in rebellion to China’s current anti-mask law for protestors. He then proceeded to shout “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!” The stream then reduce to industrial, and all on-demand footage had been removed.
Blizzard issued the ban on October eight, saying blitzchung violated the 2019 Hearthstone Grandmasters Official Competitors guidelines and banning him from Hearthstone esports for 12 months and rescinding the $10,000 USD prize cash he was set to get.Speaking to IGN, blitzchung stated “I anticipated the selection by Blizzard, I consider it is unfair, but I do respect their selection. I am not [regretful] of what I stated. I should not be afraid of these types of white terror,” which Chung describes as “anonymous acts that build a climate of worry.”
Following blitzchung’s punishment, Blizzard started to get a ton of backlash from its fans, pro players, game business pros, and extra, with some boycotting its games.
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You can study Blizzard’s complete statement by clicking right here.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can stick to him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.