Last month, Blizzard felt the heat over their controversial decision to discipline Ng Wai Chung, known in the Hearthstone esports community as Blitzchung. The player made a political statement regarding Hong Kong during an interview and was promptly stripped of his winnings and banned from competing for the next year. To make matters worse the two people interviewing him at the time were also fired. Now J. Allen Brack, Blizzard's president, has apologized.

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Brack used the opening ceremony of Blizzcon to deliver the apology. It comes across as heartfelt and genuine, ending with Brack explicitly stating "I'm sorry and I accept accountability." However, it is very carefully worded.

It was well-received at the event, rightfully so, but watched back it does come across as much vaguer than it could have been. The words used are certainly carefully chosen to ensure that Blizzard does not get accused of taking sides.

While there is much discussion of their failure to "bring the world together," Brack very carefully does not utter the words "China" or "Hong Kong," let alone name Blitzchung, during the short speech. Instead, the focus is on how Blizzard "didn't live up to the high standards" which it sets for itself and "failed in purpose" He also states that they "moved too quickly" and "were too slow to talk."

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Many are praising Blizzard for actually discussing the situation, which led to a huge social media boycott against the developers. The hashtag #boycottblizzard has been trending frequently over the last few weeks as the community responded negatively to the harsh decisions taken.

The backlash has hit Blizzard in several areas. Over on Reddit, the community has threatened to boycott Hearthstone. On a larger scale, Mitsubishi also pulled their Hearthstone sponsorship and several senior Blizzard developers have jumped ship.

The very public apology is a step in the right direction for Blizzard, who will no doubt be hoping that their Blizzcon event will get fans excited about their content again.

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