Tencent has removed the skins of the British brand Burberry from Honor of Kings. The reason is the rejection of cotton from Xinjiang
In China, partnerships with Western brands that do not want to buy cotton from Xinjiang have begun to be massively terminated. Among others, gaming companies joined the boycott. For example, Tencent. Yesterday, the industrial giant removed skins made by the British luxury brand Burberry from its Honor of Kings game.
Xinjiang is the largest region of China, which produces about a fifth of all cotton in the world. Last year, UN experts and a number of European companies said that Chinese cotton is harvested using Uighur slave labor. As a result, all this led to the fact that in December 2020, the United States banned the import of cotton from Xinjiang, and last Monday the EU imposed additional sanctions.
In China, they were dissatisfied with what was happening. Four days ago, the country imposed its own sanctions against the EU and announced a boycott of some Western brands. The distribution included H&M, Adidas, Nike, New Balance, Converse, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Burberry and many others.
Chinese gaming companies also joined the protest.
According to the SCMP portal, yesterday Tencent wrote on Weibo that it was breaking a deal with the fashion clothing manufacturer Burberry. The latter just a few days ago created two exclusive skins for Honor of Kings. Tencent itself did not explain the decision in any way, but sources close to the company claim that it is precisely the situation with cotton. They say Burberry is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, which opposes human rights violations in Xinjiang.
In addition, China’s largest esports league, the League of Legends Pro League (also controlled by Tencent), has suspended its partnership with Nike. The Nike logo and all products associated with the company were removed from the official website of the league.
Recall that China is a strategic market for Western companies. Many European luxury brands often arrange collaborations with local game developers, hoping to reach a wealthy audience.
