Gamers are cancelling WoW subscriptions and uninstalling Hearthstone en masse, after Blizzard made repeated attempts to shut down support for the protesting people of Hong Kong during its Esports tournaments. So far, though, it seems content to double down on the plan, closing discussion forums, deleting comments, and banning more players and teams from speaking out.
This all began over the weekend, when professional Hearthstone player, Chung "blitzchung" Ng Wai, voiced his support for the embattled protesters in Hong Kong who are standing up to Chinese oppression. Blizzard banned Ng Wai from further tournaments and even stripped him of his tournament winnings. This caused a swift response from gamers, who protested themselves on the official Hearthstone forums and subreddit, leading to the official Blizzard subreddit being set to private by the moderators in an attempt to curtail the complaints.
[BREAKING] Hong Kong Hearthstone player @blitzchungHS calls for liberation of his country in post-game interview:https://t.co/3AgQAaPioj
@Matthieist #Hearthstone pic.twitter.com/DnaMSEaM4g— Inven Global (@InvenGlobal) October 6, 2019
Many gamers have since announced their intention to never play Blizzard games again, and have cancelled any ongoing subscriptions. Many more still, are requesting refunds on recent Blizzard purchases.
Blizzard hasn't made much of a response so far, but during another Hearthstone stream as part of the American Collegiate Hearthstone Championship, one team from American University held up a sign sating "Free Hong Kong. Boycott Blizz." The stream was immediately cut short, leaving the opposing team as the only one on camera.
The question now arises of what Blizzard will do at Blizzcon? It starts in just three weeks time, on November 1. You have to imagine many of the attendees who are unhappy with Blizzard's response to this crisis, will want to protest at the event. Following the "don't you guys got phones?" from last year's event, Blizzard may be facing a greater backlash in 2019.
