Hong Kong: the riot according to Riot and the storm at Blizzard - the facts in a nutshell

The Hong Kong protest is an issue to which, in our country, media coverage worthy of this event is not being dedicated but which at the same time as we write this article is literally shaking the balance of many Western companies, consequently setting fire to the 'public opinion.

What is happening in Hong Kong?

Since last March the people of Hong Kong have mobilized en masse to protest against the new maneuvers of the Chinese government on extradition, yet another crackdown on the former British colony which sees its autonomy and human rights once again threatened.
These protests are only the culmination of tensions between the two countries and the extradition regulations have been perceived by the people of Hong Kong as a pretext for the Chinese government to exercise even more control over the population. For example, referring to episodes that have already occurred such as the banning of certain books and the "mysterious" disappearance of some characters considered uncomfortable.

The dissent of the crowds was demonstrated by peaceful marches and marches through the streets of the city consisting mainly of young students and part of the ruling class. Of course, the response was not as peaceful, resulting in episodes of violence by the police as evidenced by the images of the Hong Kong airport that went around the world last summer, thus expanding the voice of the protesters.

Taking advantage of the social networks and international showcases also offered by some events (such as Esports tournaments) some people have tried to show their support for the protests in progress by trying to raise awareness of what is happening. By doing so, however, real media events have been created that have put many of the companies involved in difficulty, especially those that have collaborated with the Chinese state for years.

An offside tweet

One of these cases is certainly that of the NBA where Daryl Morey, General Manager of the Houston Rockets has openly demonstrated his support to the Hong Kong protesters on his Twitter profile. The post was promptly removed but that little time online was enough to spark a new debate on freedom of expression and the too much weight that American companies give to the Chinese market. Morey's naive action had repercussions not only on the income of his team, which was seen in record time cancel all merchandise from online stores in China and the suspension of some partnerships, but also on the NBA itself with the blackout of the game. of the Lakers against Nets which was taking place in those days. A considerable damage to the company given the enormous success of this sport in China.

The riot according to Riot

It is now well known that Esports are a phenomenon that is taken very seriously in China, so it is in the interest of companies to avoid mixing games and politics for the sake of the event. Some maneuvers, however, have a bitter and almost Orwellian flavor as evidenced by what happened during the League of Legends World Championship.

What made MOBA fans suspicious was the behavior of some commentators; during the live broadcast the comment seemed to allude to a form of censorship of the words "hong kong"To avoid any semantic juxtaposition with the protests in progress. To corroborate this thesis is the continuous correction of the commentators in appointing the team of Hong Kong Attitude readily abbreviated to HKA.

Subsequently the strange delay of the post match interview with Hong Kong Attitude, aroused further suspicion in viewers who perceived it as a passage through the filter of censorship before airing.

A few hours later Ryan Rigney, communications manager of Riot, said there was no ban on pronouncing the words Hong Kong and that the corrections to the team name were only the result of internal communication errors during the live broadcast. However, this did not heal the doubts harbored by the spectators.

The storm in the Blizzard house

The event that is currently on everyone's lips is certainly the one concerning the Irvine house which has led to a real internal and external movement by fans and employees.

The triggers were the words of Hearthstone Pro-Player Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai who during the last Grandmaster demonstrated his support for the demonstrations taking place in his country. In response, Blizzard not only banned the player for a year after withdrawing his tournament win, but also fired the two commentators who were holding the post-match interview.

The actions taken by the company have received a very strong flashback that a few weeks from Blizzcon will certainly not benefit their reputation (especially after the ups and downs of the last edition).

Immediately after the incident, fans around the world began to react against the software house by trying to boycott it by elevating May, heroin of Overwatch, as an icon of the protest in order to have one of the most profitable stocks abolished from the Chinese market. Other fans reacted by deleting their Battle.net accounts while others have limited themselves to expressing their dissent on social networks with special hashtags such as #BoycottBlizzard .

But why is the Blizzard case so striking? The answer is engraved right under the statue at the campus entrance:

Every voice matters.

Each item is important, one of the cornerstones of Blizzard along with Think Globally he now sees himself trampled by his own actions.

Actions that have been perceived as hypocritical even by the same employees who covered these "dogmas" of the house last morning by protesting for what happened, joining a feeling of disappointment caused by that same house that has always fought for inclusion and above all with Overwatch he spoke out for the fight for a better future.

What lies behind these events?

The ones we talked about above are just some of the episodes that have been occurring in the last few days. While on the one hand we can (indeed we must) be indignant at the policies in place in some countries, on the other hand it is good to know some internal dynamics of many companies that naturally safeguard their interests in the name of previous agreements.

Precisely with regard to the companies mentioned above we can refer to Tencent, Chinese entrepreneurial giant that has invested in many fields including videogames, so it goes without saying that avoiding talking about Hong Kong or other taboo topics is mandatory for industries that have agreements with certain lenders.
The problem essentially arises when the company policy and the philosophy of the latter begin to collide with each other just as in the case of Blizzard which heavily punishes a player who does not respect a pre-signed regulation, while praising freedom of speech.

Gaming and politics are definitely two topics that should always be separate, but if your audience is politics itself, what future awaits gamers and the gaming industry?