Blizzard has banned three more Hearthstone players. Last week, they called for a boycott of the company during a student tournament on this game.
Within six months, three players from the USA — GiantDwarf, TJammer and Xcelsior — will not be able to participate in Blizzard esports competitions. The same punishment was received by the player blitzchung — Chung Ng Wai (Chung Ng Wai), although initially he was promised a disqualification for a year.
Just the situation with blitzchung led to the fact that the Americans publicly called for a boycott of Blizzard. And also to liberate Hong Kong, as he writes Gamesindustry.biz .
The gaming company punished Ng Wai for a similar statement about Hong Kong during a stream on Grandmasters 2019. And at that time, the reaction of the studio was lightning fast. The American players were not in danger for at least a week. Blizzard probably used to be afraid to ban new participants in a large-scale scandal.
There is another nuance. The opinion spread among the community that the Chinese regulator ignored or did not notice the call of the Americans. Allegedly, that’s why Blizzard didn’t ban them for the first time, even though they violated the rules of their tournament. On the other hand, blitzchung is an Asian esports player, and his statements could hit Blizzard’s Chinese investors more.
Recall that last Saturday she said that blitzchung was banned for violating the rules of the championship — and only for that. But the company continued to be criticized for trying to please the Chinese authorities and, as a result, the local market.
The full story of the Blizzard scandal can be read here.
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