Blizzard President J. Allen Brack commented on the scandal surrounding the ban of Hong Kong Hearthstone player Chan blitzchung Ng Wai (Chung Ng Wai). He stated that this was not a political decision and had nothing to do with the company's work in China.
Brack explained that the company stands for freedom of thought. He said that Blizzard is trying to bring players together with the help of eSports and strives to protect these values in every possible way. The head of the studio noted that the reason for the ban was not the thoughts of the cybersportsman, but the violation of the rules of conduct on the broadcast. In his opinion, the streams are dedicated to the tournament and are intended primarily for its coverage.
The developer said that relations with the Chinese government and doing business in this country did not affect the final decision. Brack noted that, in his opinion, the tournament management reacted too harshly. Since the player played honestly, he will receive the promised prize money. In addition, Blizzard has reduced the ban period from 12 months to 6 months.
October 8 Chan blitzchung Ng Wai at the official stream of the Hearthstone tournament mask and shouted a phrase in support of the Hong Kong protesters. After that, Blizzard disqualified the player for a year and deprived him of his prize money.
Protests have been taking place in Hong Kong since mid-June 2019. Initially, the activists opposed the adoption of a bill to extradite suspects and prisoners to China, Taiwan and Macau, but later they formed a list of five demands. In addition to canceling the consideration of the bill, they demanded an investigation into police actions at demonstrations, the release of all those arrested at rallies, the abolition of the term "riots" in relation to events in the country, and the creation of an election system in Hong Kong. Now the authorities have fulfilled only one requirement - they canceled the consideration of the bill.
Source: 3dnews.ru