Blizzard banned an esports player for supporting protests in Hong Kong. Why?
Blizzard has severely punished the Hearthstone esports player for a politically tinged stream. Gamer Chung Ng Wai (Chung Ng Wai) expressed support for the protesters in Hong Kong — and lost the prize money. He also received a one-year suspension.
During an interview at the Grandmaster 2019 tournament, the player put on a mask like the protesters and called for the “liberation of Hong Kong.” “This is the revolution of our time!” he added. Because of this, he was banned from participating in Hearthstone tournaments until October 5, 2020, InvenGlobal reports.
Blizzard reacted equally harshly to the streamers who interviewed the player. The company claims that they knew about Ng Wai’s intentions, but did not prevent the situation. Cooperation with them was severed, the recording of the live broadcast was deleted.
What explains Blizzard’s actions?
There are four versions.
- First. The esports player violated the rules established by Blizzard. According to them, esports players have no right to damage the reputation of the organizers.
- The second. Blizzard does not need friction with advertisers. As the Channel Factory survey among advertisers in the USA and Western Europe shows, political topics, racism and sexism are most negatively perceived by media companies. At the global level, racism and sexism are the most painful topic for 70% and 56% of respondents, respectively. At the same time, the sensitivity of the market to certain problems may be unique for regions. For example, in Europe, according to 64% of advertisers surveyed, fascism-related content harms the image the most.
Which political content is more damaging to the image of advertisers in Europe and the United StatesThird.
- 5% of Blizzard belongs to the Chinese media giant Tencent. If Blizzard had ignored the situation with Ng Vai, shareholders could have been dissatisfied.
- And the fourth. Ng Wai’s statement could jeopardize Blizzard’s sales in China. It is unlikely that the company would wait for problems with local regulators — they already do not license games where political topics are mentioned. In this regard, Blizzard’s desire to stay out of politics is most understandable.
All these reasons (individually or collectively) lead to the fact that the authors of Hearthstone punish esports players for assessing the political situation in the Middle Kingdom.
Protests in Hong Kong have been going on since the end of March this year. First of all, the demonstrators are seeking the repeal of the extradition bill proposed by the local government. Its adoption, according to the protesters, will undermine the autonomy of Hong Kong and make it dependent on China. Hundreds of thousands of people are participating in the protests.
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