The opening ceremony of BlizzCon 2019 began on a solemn note, with an earnest declaration that Blizzard Entertainment needed to apologize for its recent behavior. However, it has now been confirmed that the bans that caused so much controversy will remain in place. The vague apology said little of substance, and today it has become clear that the act was little more than a hollow PR stunt.
Speaking to the eager audience of loyal Blizzard fans, company president J. Allen Brack walked on stage and stated, "When I think about what I'm most unhappy about, there's really two things: The first one is that we didn't live up to the high standards that we set for ourselves. And the second is that we failed in our purpose. And for that, I am sorry, and I accept accountability." So, what exactly does this refer to?
A little over a month ago, Ng Wai Chung, known in the Hearthstone esports community as Blitzchung, took the opportunity to make a political statement during his tournament interview on a live stream, stating, “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age!” For the comment, he was banned from competitive play for a year, and the two casters interviewing him from a remote location were terminated from their positions.
This caused a massive uproar in many online communities, ranging from competitive players, casters, and players all voicing their discontent that this harsh punishment and what appeared to be a willingness to placate the Chinese markets above all else. The news became prominent in mainstream media, and US lawmakers even called on Blizzard to rescind their decision.
The facts speak for themselves. Blizzard disciplined Blitzchung and terminated relations with two casters. Brack then apologized for that action but remains committed to the decision. What was the point of the apology if they remain committed to the controversial decision, and more importantly, what were they apologizing for? Clearly it was not for the bans themselves if they intend to maintain them in place.
Brack continued in his opening remarks, stating, “As you walk around this weekend, I hope it's clear how committed we are to everyone's right to express themselves, in all kinds of ways and all kinds of places." This too is completely hypocritical in every sense of the word. Blizzard cannot claim to support the right of expression while also banning Blitzchung for expressing himself.
In a brief interview today, PC Gamer asked Brack about this directly, who went on to state that,
"We want the official broadcasts, which are a small percentage of the overall content that gets created, to be about the games. And we want those to be focused on the games. Again, it's not about the content of Blitzchung's message. It's about the fact that it was not around the games."
Brack went on to state that the discipline of Blitzchung had nothing to do with being political, and it was purely to set an example for future players who may want to make political statement. PC Gamer than asked about the casters who were terminated, and the response was,
"I think that we have a long history of long relationships with a lot of different casters. It's clear that the goal is to have the broadcast move forward and be about the games. There's a lot of different interpretations around the [Taiwanese] casters and whether they were involved [...] with Blitzchung or not, [but] that's not really something we considered. What we considered with them was that they are hired by Blizzard to do a job, and in this case that job is to keep the broadcast focused on what it needs to be focused on, which is the games, the winners, and the stories coming out of there. They were not successful in their job. That's how we made the decision on that."
Hearing this explanation is nothing but short of frustrating, because there is simply too much ridiculousness piled into this clown car of a situation to be taken seriously.
The message is quite clear: Blizzard supports whatever happens to be in their best interests. Freedom of expression becomes secondary to that interest - it is an ideal that they are attempting to empower with vague statements, but ultimately undermine by maintaining the ban on Blitzchung.
The problem remains the same as it has since the controversy first began, and that is that Blizzard is trying their hardest to have their cake and eat it, too. Blizzard cannot censor speech to placate its Chinese interests and tell its North American market that it supports the right to expression.
Unfortunately for now, it seems the hollow apology seems to have worked, with hype running high at the convention and the pro-Hong Kong protests only drawing a small crowd. Still, it may only seem so because Brack and everyone else is surrounded by the most steadfast of Blizzard fans, many who have paid thousands of dollars and traveled far to celebrate with like-minded fans. Hopefully, consumers not in attendance will need far more effort on Blizzard's part to look past their duplicitous behavior - an effort that they may not be willing to make.
Source: pcgamer.com