Blizzard has now taken action against the American University Hearthstone group.
In a tweet on Twitter (under), group member Casey “Xcelsior” Chambers revealed the esports squad had been suspended from Hearthstone competitors for six months.
The choice comes soon after the group displayed an official protest in the course of a tournament final week. American University held up a sign in help of Hong Kong’s independence and encouraging livestream viewers to boycott the publisher.
But, the punishment took longer than even the group anticipated.
“Happy to announce the AU Hearthstone group received a six-month ban from competitors,” mentioned Chambers.
“While delayed, I appreciate all players getting treated equally and no 1 getting above the guidelines.”
The esports group felt the need to have to protest in help of fellow pro Hearthstone player Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai (pictured) – he was banned following his verbal help of his country’s independence from China. As a outcome, Blitzchung was suspended from tournaments for 1 year and had his winnings revoked.
Even so, in a statement by Blizzard’s president J. Allen Brack, the enterprise mentioned it felt it had reacted also strongly against Ng Wai. The Overwatch creator also insisted its ties to China played no element in the extreme penalty provided to Ng Wai.
The pro esports player had his sentence decreased to six months and saw his winnings reinstated. Ng Wai responded to Blizzard’s statement with 1 of his personal, saying he’s not positive if he will return to Hearthstone and that he will be extra cautious with expressing his views in the future.
In the aftermath of these protests, Riot Games has announced it desires all League of Legends pro players to remain out of politics.