CITY
NEWS
LOCAL GAMERS RAGEQUIT BLIZZARD
SoCal: Natives fight against
Irvine-based company for
censorship and banning
professional gamer from competing
BY CARRIE GRAHAM / el Don
Shortly after winning the
Hearthstone world championship
professional gamer Ng Wai Chung,
who goes by the screen name
Blitzchung, interviewed with
Taiwanese esports streamers. It
looked like any other post-game
stream until Chung put on a gas
mask. As the interviewers ducked
their heads to avoid association with
Chung, a Hong Kong resident, said
“Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of
our times.” Two days later Activision
Blizzard, creators of Hearthstone,
World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and
others banned him.
Chung’s statement referred to the
ongoing pro-democracy protests
after a Chinese investigation
involving a Taiwan native who
murdered his girlfriend and then
fled to Hong Kong prompted the
government to propose a bill that
would allow extradition to mainland
China. Many protesters, whom
the government has currently
classified as “rioters” wear surgical
or gas masks in defiance of a
governmental ban on them to
minimize the effect of tear gas being
used by police and to hide their
identities from widespread facial
recognition software.
The legislation would allow
anyone in Hong Kong who spoke
ill of the communist Chinese
government, particularly journalists
and activists, to be extradited to
China where their “crime” carries a
death sentence.
In a delayed response, Blizzard
stripped Chung of his Grandmaster
title, banned him from the league
for a year and revoked $10,000 in
prize earnings after the incident.
The American University pro-
Hearthstone team showed their
support for Chung by holding up a
sign during their post-game stream
that read “Free Hong Kong Boycott
Blizz” and as a result, they received
a 6-month ban. " I could care less
6
FREEDOM OVER PROFITS / A large group of protesters gathered outside the
Anaheim Convention Center lead by Dayton Young. / CARRIE GRAHAM
WHY WINNIE THE POOH?
about a video game over people's
freedom, right?" said Brian Kibler,
one of the players for the university.
Blizzcon, which took place in
early November, commenced with
a group of roughly 60 protesters
gathered in front of the Anaheim
Convention Center. Lead organizer
Dayton Young of Gamers for
Freedom led the crowd in chants of
“freedom over profits", “you will not
control us” and “you made us leave
our couch” as a display of solidarity
for fellow gamers.
Blizzard claimed that it had
nothing to do with business ties, and
cited a pre-existing rule that states,
“engaging in any act that ... otherwise
damage’s Blizzard image will result
in removal from Grandmasters and
reduction of the player’s prize total
to $0 USD.”
Although the statement Irvine-
based Blizzard posted on their
Twitter claims that the decision to
punish Chung had nothing to do
with his specific statements, their
Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of
Twitter) says they are "very angered
and disappointed at what happened
... and will always respect and
defend our country."
Blizzard didn't escape scrutiny
from the U.S government either.
A bipartisan group of Congress
members including Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Marco
Rubio penned a letter to Blizzard
CEO Bobby Kotick urging him to
preserve free speech and reverse
Chung's punishment.
Young acknowledges that with
how interconnected our economy
is with China, boycotting all
goods from the country would be
impractical if not impossible.
"Email the CEOs, the presidents of
companies, call them, blow up their
social media. Let them know that
you're holding them accountable,"
Young said.
In 2017, Chinese censors banned Winne the Pooh from the internet after images appeared
on social media comparing the honey-loving icon to Chinese President Xi Jinping. For this
reason, some of the protesters dressed in Winnie the Pooh cosplay.
el Don Santa Ana College · December 2019