Published , by Blake Morse
Published , by Blake Morse
Ahead of the Blizzcon opening ceremonies today in Anaheim, CA the team at Blizzard took a moment to directly address the recent controversy surrounding Hearthstone and the protest happening in Hong Kong. Recently the company has come under scrutiny for their treatment of a player who made a political statement during a tournament. To that point, President of Blizzard J Allen Brack came out and delivered a statement in which he admitted that the company had handled the issue poorly and would endeavour to better in the future when dealing with such controversial social issues.
"Blizzard had the opportunity to bring the world together... and we did not. And worse, we were too slow to talk you. We didn't live up to the high standards we set for ourselves. For that, I'm sorry and I accept accountability." stated Brack and went on promise "We will do better going forward. But our actions are going to matter more than any of these words. As you walk around this weekend, I hope it’s clear how committed we are to people expressing themselves."
Blizzard had previously suspended Hearthstone player blitzchung after he wore a mask and expressed his support for the current political protests happening in Hong Kong. They also took away all of his prize earnings. Hearthstone fans did not take kindly to the company’s response and reacted with a boycott movement.
Blizzard then suddenly found themselves synonymous with China and censorship with many blaming its ties to Chinese corporations for their harsh response to blitzchung. Since then, Blizzard has pulled back on their initial punishments towards blitzchung, but this is the first time that Blizzard has publicly admitted they did not handle the entire situation properly. We'll see if the company actually puts their money where their mouth is going forward.