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      Over the past few weeks, Blizzard Entertainment, the legendary game company behind Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch, has come under fire for their decisions relating to Chinese censorship, and in particular, the Hong Kong independence movement. To briefly sum up what you likely already know, a Hearthstone Grandmasters participant named Chung Ng Wai, also called Blitzchung, said pro-Hong Kong comments on a stream after winning a match while donning goggles and a face mask, the chosen attire of the Hong Kong independence protestors. 

 

      Blizzard decided to punish these comments by banning Blitzchung for a year, and revoking prize money he rightfully won. They also decided to suspend the casters who interviewed Blitzchung for a year. In protest, Blizzard fans from all over the world, including myself, have stopped playing their games and are often deleting their entire accounts. After large public backlash and scrutiny from American lawmakers over the situation, Blizzard has toned down the punishments somewhat - Blitzchung will receive his prize money, and he and the casters will only be suspended for 6 months.  

       

      The situation has not de-escalated in the way that Blizzard might hope; when they revealed their rethought punishment for Blitzchung, they commented that the situation was in no way related to the Chinese government or any demands they might have, which fails the smell test for most people upset with the situation. In addition, college tournament players from American University have received similar bans for holding up “Free Hong Kong” signs during official events. Some employees at Blizzard have covered up parts of Blizzard’s displayed motto at their headquarters (the phrases “Every Voice Matters” and “Think Globally”), and some employees have even staged a walk-out in protest. 

 

       Blizzard claims that they would have banned Blitzchung for any comment he could’ve made that could be seen as offensive or controversial, but this seems doubtful at best. Would they have banned Blitzchung for being pro-LGBT rights, or for being pro-Chinese government? The fact is that China and their stance on silencing dissent and punishing companies that don’t follow their lead has everything to do with this situation - China is a massive and still-growing consumer market, and to go against their wishes is a near-guaranteed way to lose out on a lot of money. 

 

        Blizzard, like other companies that want a piece of the Chinese marketplace, have to capitulate to the demands of the Chinese government. For some organizations, this is not necessarily difficult to do and can be somewhat harmless, but for organizations that run tournaments or events that can involve independent people with their own views and opinions, this will involve censorship of ideas and punishment, as we’ve seen with Blitzchung. 

   

         I am a person who was introduced to Blizzard mainly through Hearthstone around 5 years ago. I’ve been an avid fan of the game ever since, and it was my daily game through most of college and graduate school.  Although I was never into World of Warcraft, I loved the charm and energy that translated into the card game. I loved how affordable Hearthstone was compared to a game like Magic: The Gathering. I loved how polished and streamlined the gameplay was, I loved reading about strategy and the meta game, and I loved creating decks to challenge friends online and off.

 

        The past year or so of Hearthstone has probably been its peak in terms of fun and diversity. Team 5, the Blizzard team that runs Hearthstone, has been more willing to experiment with cards and mechanics, they have been listening to the player base more often, and they have nerfed and buffed cards with a higher frequency than ever before. However, even before the recent controversies, it was never a game I could recommend a new player start after around 2017. This is mainly due to how much of an investment it is to build a solid collection as a foundation for your time in Hearthstone. 

       

        Team 5 introduced the primary format of Hearthstone, Standard format, in April 2016. This format made it so that only cards introduced in the past 2 years of the game would be usable, along with the Basic set, which is provided to every player, and Classic, which is the set that the game launched with. As such, players that have a strong Classic set as a foundation are going to be at a huge advantage to any other players. Long time players can focus on obtaining new cards that Blizzard releases, which are generally more powerful, while newcomers must try and build a Classic collection while also obtaining new from the Standard year. In short, if you are unwilling to spend real money, it is a uphill climb that is just not very fun. 

The reason why I bring this up is that Blizzard has somewhat sealed the fate of Hearthstone with their recent actions. It is a game that cannot grow easily from newcomers who are free-to-play, and by capitulating to Chinese censorship policies, they risk alienating more and more of their long-time player base. I have not played Hearthstone since the Hong Kong controversy began, and I am not planning on going back at this point. And there are plenty of players like me, who are upset with the values that Blizzard says they strive to uphold and the conflict they create with their actual actions. 

 

         Overall, Blizzard has lost its way for money in the Chinese marketplace, and have made their decision. And as such, myself and plenty of other players have made their decisions too. While it is incredibly disappointing for me to be a long-time Hearthstone player to stop playing the game when it is at a creative peak, it is nowhere near as disappointing as the actions of Blizzard in the face of censorship and independence. 

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