Blitzchung, a professional Hearthstone esports player from Hong Kong, was banned Monday after expressing support for ongoing protests in his homeland by shouting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age” during a live-streamed interview.

His actions earned him a 12-month ban from participating in all Blizzard-run tournaments on top of losing his tournament winnings (US $3,000).

Blitzchung’s punishment caused a widespread public protest against Blizzard, accusing the company of using too harsh punishment in order to cater to the Chinese audience.

The support for Blitzchung reached all corners of the world, with some legal entities and political figures joining in the protest against Blizzard, which forced the company to respond to the accusations.

And a response came on Friday, October 11, when Blizzard president J. Allen Brack released an official statement where he doubled down on the firm’s decision to disallow any political speech during their events and denied that the initial decision was not in any way driven by the company’s relationships in China.

“The specific views expressed by Blitzchung were not a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision,” said Brack.

Brack went on to explain he stands behind Blizzard’s punishment for banning Blitzchung for his support of Hong Kong protests and will do the same to any players or casters that will do the same in the future.

While the punishment stands firm, Brack stated Blizzard have decided to reduce the punishment to be more rational and still serve its purpose. For that reason, Blitzchung will receive back the lost prize money on top of his ban being reduced from a one year to six months, because he played fair in the tournament.

“But playing fair also includes appropriate pre-and post-match conduct, especially when a player accepts recognition for winning in a broadcast. There is a consequence for taking the conversation away from the purpose of the event and disrupting or derailing the broadcast,” added the Blizzard president.

While a nice gesture made by Blizzard, the protests against the company continue and it seems like this fire will need much longer to extinguish as seen by ongoing anti-Blizzard posts made on Reddit, Facebook and Twitter.

Twitter has been roaring in recent days with #BoycottBlizzard trending, where several pictures of people cancelling their subscriptions to Blizzard-owned games as well as others acts of protest can be found.

Adding to online outrage, there is supposedly a mass protest planned for next month’s Blizzcon, which should keep the fire going, as masses demand for further clarification of Blizzard’s controversial actions.

The post Blizzard reduce Blitzchung ban as Hong Kong protests continue appeared first on Esport Bet.

The HK native made the headlines due to his controversial statements during a live streamed interview that took place after his Asia-Pacific Grandmasters tournament match.

Blitzchung appeared wearing a mask, closely resembling that of the protesters, yelling out “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times”, a slogan used by the social movement in Hong Kong.

His actions, however, did not sit well with Blizzard, who took immediate action against the pro as well as both casters involved.

Blitzchung suffered a 12-month ban, preventing him from participating in any Blizzard-run tournaments beginning from October 5, 2019 and extending to October 5, 2020. On top of that, he lost all prize winnings he earned at the event, where he finished seventh in his group, which would have awarded him with US $3,000.

Blizzard also released a statement talking about both casters, claiming that despite them physically “ducking” from Blitzchung’s comments on air and immediately cutting the stream to commercials, the company decided to immediately cease working with them.

Activision Blizzard justified their decision by saying the interview broke the tournament rules, which dictate that players may not take any action that could damage Blizzard’s image.

Section 6.1 of the 2019 Hearthstone Grandmasters Official Competition Rules states: “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.”

Blizzard ended their ruling by saying: “While we stand by one’s right to express individual thoughts and opinions, players and other participants that elect to participate in our esports competitions must abide by the official competition rules.”

Soon after the incident, many players, esports fans as well as companies and other legal entities expressed their dissatisfaction with Blizzard’s decision to punish Blitzchung, claiming Blizzard is catering too much to China, which is not the first time something like that has happened.

One of the first to jump at the opportunity to criticise Blizzard was the creators of Gods Unchained, who decided to show their support for Blitzchung, by claiming they will pay him for all his lost winnings on top of gifting him a ticket to their US $500,000 tournament.

In the wake of the news, it seems like some of Blizzard’s employees started their own silent protest by covering up parts of Blizzard’s statue at the centre of Blizzard’s campus in Irvine California.

The covered parts show companies core values written on it, such as “every voice matters” and “think globally”, which compared to current events come off as contradictory to Blizzard’s actions.

The news also reached some more influential individuals such as US senator Ron Wyden, who commented on the situation with a Twitter post which read: “Blizzard shows it is willing to humiliate itself to please the Chinese Communist Party. No American company should censor calls for freedom to make a quick buck.”

Blizzard have found themselves between two fires, seeing how the company has ties with Tencent Holdings Ltd. and NetEase Inc., both Chinese firms who help distribute and co-develop many Activision’s game titles. Tencent also holds a 4.9% stake in Activision Blizzard, meaning taking no action on the matter could result in a huge financial disaster for the company.

The post Blitzchung banned from Hearthstone over HK democracy support appeared first on Esport Bet.