In response to a post-match interview in which he showed support for the Hong Kong protests, professional Hearthstone player Blitzchung will receive no prizing for his Grandmasters Asia-Pacific tournament win and is ineligible to participate in Hearthstone esports for a year. Blizzard Taiwan has deleted the VOD (Video On-Demand) of the post-match interview, in which Blitzchung donned a gas mask and said, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!”
According to the official Hearthstone website, Blitzchung’s sentiment “has violated the 2019 Hearthstone Grandmasters Official Competition Rules section 6.1 (o) and is individual behavior which does not represent Blizzard or Hearthstone Esports. 6.1 (o) is found below.”
The official Blizzard statement went on to express: “We’d like to re-emphasize tournament and player conduct within the Hearthstone esports community from both players and talent. While we stand by one’s right to express individual thoughts and opinions, players and other participants that elect to participate in our esports competitions must abide by the official competition rules.”
In addition, both casters for the Hearthstone Grandmasters Asia-Pacific event have been fired.
Did Blizzard make the right decision in dealing with Blitzchung’s post-match sentiment? Let us know in the comments.
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