10 Things Blizzard Want You To Forget

For all the lousy business ethics, botched launches or strange policy decisions, no mistake will ever eclipse the handling of Blitzchung.

Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung, in a post Hearthstone interview, called for the liberation of Hong Kong surrounding further political tensions between the region and mainland China.

Blizzard reacted by banning Blitzchung for one year and withholding his prize money from the tournament. In its statement, Blizzard cited a competition rule which states that players aren’t allowed to do anything that “brings [them] into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages [Blizzard’s] image."

The issue is, Blizzard is an American company. America has a specific constitutional amendment that protects freedom of speech, for better or worse. What Blizzard showed in this incredibly harsh punishment was not only that they care more about their financial assets in China, but that they are willing to bow down to an oppressive regime to keep those assets coming in.

This move sparked outrage not only in the video games sphere but within wider media as a whole. Soon The Washington Post, BBC and a whole host of traditional news outlets were laying bare Blizzard's profit over people policy.

It is worth remembering that, though Blizzard reduced Blitzchungs ban and gave him some of his earned money back, he is still banned. Blizzard is still caving to the pressure of the Chinese market. A dangerous precedent from one of the US's biggest video games publishers.