YouTuber Trolden denied BlizzCon visa, "not a real media" embassy says

Popular Hearthstone YouTuber Andrey "Trolden" Nolden has been denied entry to the United States to do BlizzCon coverage, despite receiving formal invitation from Blizzard. While the US embassy reasoned the deny with Nolden's employment, the HS personality suspects his nationality might've been a bigger factor.

Since his involvement with Hearthstone - his channel having started ten months ago - Trolden has become synonimous with the funny side of Hearthstone, Blizzard's boomingly popular online card game. Originator of the "Funny and Lucky Moments" series, each episode of which is well in the six figures views-wise, Trolden was extended a formal invitation by Blizzard Entertainment to travel to Anaheim, California and produce exclusive BlizzCon coverage tied with the $250,000 Hearthstone World Championship. When Nolden went to the US embassy in Czech Republic - the country he's currently residing in - he was met with a rejection, despite showcasing the letter from Blizzard themselves.

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The embassy staff were perplexed when they saw the invitation and paid travel expenses by Blizzard, particularly because I was not an actual Blizzard employee, which is apparently necessary if I am to be granted a Visa.

Nolden's attempts to explain that he's applying for visa and visiting the United States as a media representative were also not accepted by the embassy due to the nature of his job. Although he makes his entire living off of his YouTube content and his 230,000+ subscribers, Nolden got told that "YouTube is not a real media and therefore [he is] not a real journalist". While controversial, the topic is certainly not new to gaming personalities, however, as eSports athletes were constantly facing visa rejections in the past, barring them from attending offline events on US soil.

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I asked them if it would be different I was to apply for a different visa, but the embassy told me the result would be the same - a rejection.

Although his employment was brought up as the main reason for the rejection, Nolden speculates that his Russian citizenship might've affected the decision more. "I got confirmed that a lot of Russian and Ukrainian fansites are also facing visa denials and likely won't be going to BlizzCon," says Nolden. "If I was a Czech citizen, however, that wouldn't have been a problem, however, and I would've already arrived in the United States."

The case is not completely closed, however. According to the embassy, Nolden's only chance for a US visa is if Blizzard request it for him themselves at a local US embassy. The YouTuber told GosuGamers that Blizzard employees are already tackling the issue.

While the news is alarming for media repesentatives, the problem does seem to affect them alone, as no outcry from players has been publicly made yet but since those are handled by Blizzard's eSports division, issues should not arise.