The hashtag #BlizzardBoycott is trending right now on Twitter due to the company's recent actions following a World of Warcraft developer has a large following in China, which has been undergoing numerous protests and marches over the past few months in response to the communist government's control and treatment of Hong Kong.
Recently, increase PlayStation prices and China just today announcing they will begin restricting visas from people employed by certain human rights organizations, tensions between the communist government and everyone else has, lately, only continued to rise.
#BlizzardBoycott is trending because, according to Blizzard rescinded the prize money Chung Ng Wai won and banned him from participating in future Hearthstone tournaments for at least a year, saying that his comments were harmful to the company. This sparked outrage among Heathstone fans around the world, leading to so many angry messages Blizzard's community Reddit thread was later set to private.
As displayed in the above Activision Blizzard which oversees it is partially owned by Tencent, the China-based largest video game publisher in the world. Worth noting is that clearly not everyone who works at Blizzard agrees with the company's decision, some going as far as to cover up the "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters" company values which are usually on display. Blizzard's actions have not only concerned fans and employees but politicians as well, with American Senator Ron Wyden saying "Blizzard shows it is willing to humiliate itself to please the Chinese Communist Party."
This has all been a very bad look for Blizzard, who just recently gained goodwill by announcing World of Warcraft. Although it's doubtful the company will reverse their decision and give Chung Ng Wai the prize money he deserves, it will be interesting to see how Hearthstone tournaments are handled in the future if #BlizzardBoycott remains trending and protests continue to happen.
Source: BusinessInsider/Twitter(Slasher)
