Following this week’s public relations debacle, which saw a large percentage of the gaming universe turn against one of the industry’s most beloved developers, Blizzard finally released a statement Friday evening regarding the banning of professional Hearthstone player blitzchung.

First a bit of context.

This past Monday, Blizzard suspended blitzchung from their professional Hearthstone tournament circuit after the player expressed support for ongoing protests in Hong Kong during an interview segment at the Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament.

Residents of Hong Kong have been engaged in multiple demonstrations throughout the past several weeks after the communist Chinese government announced that they would begin what amounts to secret arrests and extradition within the territory. Given the Chinese government’s abysmal record on human rights, (it’s estimated that between 70 million – 100 million Chinese citizens have died at the hands of the communist regime since its inception 70 years ago) the outraged being expressed by the citizens of Hong Kong can only be described as a noble cry for freedom by any rational thinker.

However, in this modern age of global trade and big business, rational thinking, or even a basic willingness to stand up for what’s right in this world, are becoming a scarce commodity.

Pro Hearthstone player blitzchung – image from esportbet.com

Because he used his interview as a platform to cite a political point of view, Blizzard decided to suspend blitzchung from their league and revoke the prize money to which he was entitled. As if that action were not drastic enough, Blizzard also canned the two broadcasters for nothing more provocative than interviewing the player.

Blizzard’s totalitarian acts of censorship created a firestorm throughout the internet. Boycott Blizzard hashtags began trending on Twitter faster than the arrival of dandelions after the first early summer heat.

Fueling the social media pitchforks was Blizzard’s relationship with Tencent, the Chinese government-tied technological giant who’s tentacles are increasingly wrapping their way throughout the gaming industry. Blizzard’s actions were seen as a way to placate the Chinese, who like all communist governments throughout history, have a habit of exercising a heavy hand against any sort of criticism.

Blizzard’s totalitarian acts of censorship created a firestorm throughout the internet.

Blizzard justified these moves by citing their rules prohibiting players from making political statements during official broadcasts; however, their actions came during a week of especially heightened scrutiny over the influence of the Chinese government over their global entertainment partners.

In the same week, censorship involving the NBA as well as the comedic mainstay South Park made national headlines.

After enduring a week of outrage, Blizzard finally released a statement on Friday evening – a time that governments and companies prefer to release displeasing news, as most of the public’s attention turns away from the barrage of the 24/7 news cycle, and towards the beautiful possibilities of the weekend.

First the sort of good – blitzchng is no longer suspended indefinitely. Instead he will be exiled from professional competition for six months, as will the two commentators who interviewed him. The Esports star will also be awarded the prize money that he rightfully won.

Beyond the few token positive actions, the sentiments expressed by Blizzard reveal a company that is either clueless or utterly flippant over the controversy that they’ve instigated.

Among the corporate niceties expressed came this golden little nugget:

“Part of Thinking Globally, Leading Responsibly, and Every Voice Matters is recognizing that we have players and fans in almost every country in the world. Our goal is to help players connect in areas of commonality, like their passion for our games, and create a sense of shared community.”

It’s this mentality of “thinking globally” that is at the heart of the issue.

Beyond the few token positive actions, the sentiments expressed by Blizzard reveal a company that is either clueless or utterly flippant over the controversy that they’ve instigated.

Blizzard’s President, J. Allen Brack, along with the heads of countless other companies throughout the United States, no longer view themselves as American citizens, today’s modern CEO views themselves as a global citizens; no longer beholden to the ideals and principles of the nation that afforded them unparalleled levels of opportunity and success.

In the past, the American ideal was to improve the standard of living throughout the worlds through the growth of the free market. There was a conscious to industry. Unfortunately, as has been repeated countless times throughout human history, once a civilization reaches the crescendo of its power, a sort of moral decay takes hold – and the decline of that civilization begins.

Practitioners of Falun Gong – a spiritual movement that the Chinese government deems a threat. Members are persecuted, imprisoned, and their organs harvested.

For the ideal of classic American capitalism, that decline has degenerated into a global corporatism among the CEO’s of the country’s most celebrated companies.

No longer concerned with anything other than growth for the sake of growth, their lack of any semblance of a moral compass has driven their capitulation to countries like China. And instead of allowing the free market to spread the ideals of freedom and liberty to places where such things are a scarce commodity, soulless jackals like J Allen Brack, Tim Cook, and Mark Zuckerberg (among others) have allowed their companies to take on the traits of China.

“One of our goals at Blizzard is to make sure that every player, everywhere in the world, regardless of political views, religious beliefs, race, gender, or any other consideration always feels safe and welcome both competing in and playing our games.”

While the goal of making “every player feel welcome” is absolutely admirable, blitzchung’s comments were not directed towards any specific player. It was a statement in support of an idea that humanity has a basic right to not have a ruling against them passed in secret, or to be stolen away in the dead of night to be taken away into one of China’s many slave gulags.

Despite their denial to the contrary, Blizzard’s hospitable concerns did not extend to blitzchung, nor were their thoughts on Hong Kong’s struggle to maintain basic human freedoms and dignity. No – their concerns were only extended to the money being pumped to them by the corporate avatars of the Chinese government.

While the goal of making “every player feel welcome” is absolutely admirable, blitzchung’s comments were not directed towards any specific player

Had he, or any other player, used Blizzard’s platform to endorse a political candidate, or speak out on a hot-button political issue, then Blizzard’s actions would have been understandable.

However, there are certain topics that transcend the concept of being considered as merely a political issue.

Simply put, the communist Chinese government is a festering blight on human history. There should be no defense of a regime that currently has 1 million ethnic Uighurs locked away in slave camps – a regime that has been repeatedly exposed for harvesting the organs of political prisoners – who exercise a complete ideological tyranny over their population.

While I applaud the expansion of trade and business throughout the world, it’s time for American-owned companies to remember what brought them to the dance in the first place – the idea that there are certain rights that are granted to us by a power higher than a government.

We as consumers also have a duty to remain vigilant, and not let these companies get away with imposing increasingly draconian restrictions on us. We must never allow the terms of service agreements of a company to supplant our rights.

As for Blizzard’s response this weekend – I believe it does not go far enough.

The company must publicly apologize to blitzchung and end his suspension immediately. They should also immediately reinstate the commentators who were unfairly suspended.

We must never allow the terms of service agreements of a company to supplant our rights.

Most importantly, Blizzard should publicly apologize to the people of Hong Kong. Blizzard’s cowardly submission to the desires of the Chinese government, whether intentional or not, has been an embarrassing insult to those risking their lives to remain free.

Until then, I will continue to boycott Blizzard.

Written by The Watchman

The Watchman is a journeyman gamer who has seen and played a good chunk of gaming history.
He’s also an actor, a reporter, a pro wrestling connoisseur, and some say he’s a cat whisperer.
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