Overwatch
Recently , Overwatchgame director Jeff Kaplan evoke thatHearthstonepro player Chung " blitzchung " Ng Wai should have his Blizzard suspension keep down even further or instantaneously eliminated , a strange show of solidarity that goes against what the company has been prophesy at large regarding the Hong Kong controversy that has persisted since the society had the player suspended in the first place . Blitzchung ’s story begin with the player expressing pro - Hong Kong thought , patronise the protest submit seat there , and quick garnered worldwide aid when Blizzard punished him by suspending him and revoking the prize money he had bring in .
From there , thing spiraled out of ascendance quick , despite the fact thatBlizzard walked back its rough punishment of blitzchungto a somewhat - more reasonable six - month suspension and , more importantly , the coming back of his heavily - earned cash . fan all over the world were still outraged with Blizzard ’s funding of China ’s security review of innocent delivery , however , so much so that a majorBlizzard esports supporter pulled outof their contender and fans start line up protests for BlizzCon 2019 . While those protests never generated as much profile for the struggles in Hong Kong as assistant would have liked , they did inspire what amount to one of theworst apology of 2019 when Blizzard presidentJ. Allen Brack vaguely stated that the company moved too quickly on blitzchung ’s punishment while never cite Hong Kong at all .
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That ’s why it was so interesting that Jeff Kaplan was so open about how he felt up regarding the blitzchung situation during an interview withThe Washington Post . Kaplan , who is also Blizzard ’s vice president , stated that he was " relieved " when the player ’s suspension was reduced , but also stated that he felt it was n’t enough , suggested that " the suspension should be reduced more or eliminated " before caveating that with an acknowledgement that it ’s just his opinion . Kaplan expanded on his position :
" I ’m obviously a huge champion of free speech . It ’s something that ’s very important to me . It [ blitzchung ’s suspension ] got to me personally . I imagine the punishment was too harsh and I was greatly relieved when they gave his money back . "
It ’s yet another lesson of how Blizzard employee themselves might not agree with the insurance of the company at bombastic , and why personal attack on those employee are whole unfounded . Blizzard staff denounce a walkout in the first place this yearduring the other stagecoach of the Hong Kong controversy , and it fathom as though Kaplan also experience the company ’s actions were too harsh and sent the wrong content to fan .
plain , fans ca n’t really recognise what exit on behind closed doors and how much say any give soul has in these decision - Kaplan himself advert to theOverwatchteam ’s abeyance policies , suggest he had no input on theHearthstoneside of things . Still , it ’s nice to see that some employee , especially those with power , have continued to support blitzchung even after the player himself suggest he was okay with the penalisation he was given . It ’s not a mess for how ill Blizzard continues to handle its family relationship with China and , specifically , Hong Kong , but it ’s a step in the right direction .
Next : Ex - Xbox Exec Mike Ybarra Joins Blizzard as Executive VP
origin : The Washington Post
