Turn out, partial ownership by chinese company is not a good thing...

[meiam]

So an Heartstone player, during a tournament, expressed support for Hong Kong protester. Blizzard banned him, took away his prize money and, just to be dick I guess, fired both caster who were simply present when he express his support...

https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1181442535962632193?s=19
https://www.cnet.com/news/blizzard-removes-blitzchung-from-hearthstone-grand-masters-after-his-public-support-for-hong-kong-protests/
https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961

Blizzard is partly owned by Tencent, a Chinese company. Guess all those conspiracy about chinese company buying western company for control might not be so crazy...

 

[Casual Shinji]

Guess all those conspiracy about chinese company buying western company for control might not be so crazy...

That was a conspiracy? Seemed pretty clear cut to me.

 

[RaikuFA]

Heard about it this morning and deleted Hearthstone from my phone.

 

[Summerstorm]

aaaaand, i still can't use the "Epic" crap because who owns half of it? Maybe Tencent...

Time to kill all governments, all corporations and restart that crap

But yeah, Chinese influence is known to be petty and bureaucratic (Also funny to an extent, as long as you just hear about it)

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Guess all those conspiracy about chinese company buying western company for control might not be so crazy...

That was a conspiracy? Seemed pretty clear cut to me.

I'm with you - I thought everyone was being legit the whole time. I mean what did people think the Chinese would do?

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I bet people will still defend that mobile Diablo despite this.

 

[CaitSeith]

It happened in the Hong Kong tournament. So, we can assume there was pressure from the Chinese government to do this (instead of just Tencent being bossy).

 

[mavkiel]

Really wish there was a way of slapping the wrist of companies that bow to the CCP. I suppose we are left with only boycotts. And mocking these companies, such that the CEO's and the like might realize they will become a social pariahs.

 

[Avnger]

So an Heartstone player, during a tournament, expressed support for Hong Kong protester. Blizzard banned him, took away his prize money and, just to be dick I guess, fired both caster who were simply present when he express his support...

https://twitter.com/Slasher/status/1181442535962632193?s=19
https://www.cnet.com/news/blizzard-removes-blitzchung-from-hearthstone-grand-masters-after-his-public-support-for-hong-kong-protests/
https://kotaku.com/blizzard-suspends-hearthstone-player-for-hong-kong-supp-1838864961

Blizzard is partly owned by Tencent, a Chinese company. Guess all those conspiracy about chinese company buying western company for control might not be so crazy...

Isn't it only like a 5% share or something? That's not a level of control where you get to dictate things like this.

Significantly more likely is the simple fact that the Chinese market makes ActiBlizzard fucking bank, and statements like the one made by the Hearthstone player threaten that if not cracked down on. If you give a corporation a choice between morals and money, they'll take the sweet, sweet cash all day every day.

 

[IceForce]

Not the first time weird shit like this has happened.

Typing "Winnie the Pooh" in Overwatch's text chat can get you banned from the game.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

The world may need heroes but I guess blizzard doesn't want to be one of them.

Also shout out to the overwatch, Hearthstone, starcraft, and heroes of the storm (and the NBA but that's on a similar issue, wow has made a mega-thread to discuss the issue)subreddit for having the balls to not censor the discussion around this. Also, shout out to some of the blizzard employees standing against this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/df52sw/blizzard_employees_standing_with_hk/

 

[Satinavian]

It happened in the Hong Kong tournament. So, we can assume there was pressure from the Chinese government to do this (instead of just Tencent being bossy).

In the Taiwan tournament, not the HK tournament.

 

[McElroy]

So is this another one of those instances where having something be politics-free (like it says in the terms of that HS tournament) is just another way of saying you support the Chinese government or some other oppressor?

 

[Kwak]

So is this another one of those instances where having something be politics-free (like it says in the terms of that HS tournament) is just another way of saying you support the Chinese government or some other oppressor?

There's no conflict.
Supporting demonstrating for democratic representation is political; supporting the wishes of an oppressive force that is a significant contributor to your market value is capitalism.

 

[warmachine]

I don't think partial ownership by a Chinese company is needed for this effect. Companies are trying to break into the huge, Chinese market and the Chinese Communist Party blocks even for portraying anything they don't like. Don't, for example, show Taiwan in a country selection list on a website. Don't need Chinese shareholders to be fired by the board for losing access to a huge market.

 

[Trunkage]

Really wish there was a way of slapping the wrist of companies that bow to the CCP. I suppose we are left with only boycotts. And mocking these companies, such that the CEO's and the like might realize they will become a social pariahs.

So... the solution is to act exactly like China

 

[Agema]

There's no conflict.
Supporting demonstrating for democratic representation is political; supporting the wishes of an oppressive force that is a significant contributor to your market value is capitalism.

Yup. Capitalism is about making money. If the money's in a repressive, non-democratic regime, that regime's values are the ones that capitalism will support.

 

[McElroy]

So is this another one of those instances where having something be politics-free (like it says in the terms of that HS tournament) is just another way of saying you support the Chinese government or some other oppressor?

There's no conflict.
Supporting demonstrating for democratic representation is political; supporting the wishes of an oppressive force that is a significant contributor to your market value is capitalism.

Yup. Capitalism is about making money. If the money's in a repressive, non-democratic regime, that regime's values are the ones that capitalism will support.

Did I propose a conflict? I assume your replies are a "yes" to my question. I guess even hoping for a politic-free environment in esports (or the Eurovision for example) supports oppressive actors of a given issue. I ask about this because I really don't want politics into my silly pastimes, and if the trend is to root for them who break these no-politics rules then I will leave the audience. I humbly think that I'm perfectly able to divide my time between politicizing and not.

 

[Pseudonym]

I don't think it's just ownership by Tencent but also them just wanting access to the Chinese market. Gotta sell your soul for that. But I doubt the people in charge at Activision-Blizzard had much to lose on that front.

 

[BrawlMan]

Well looky hear, bitches sucking dicks of bitches, just for some cash. Acti-Blizz must love whoring themselves out and screwing others. Now. I have another reason to despise them and not buy any of their games. They can fuck off with the new Modern Warfare.