Players are boycotting games like World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Hearthstone after a user was punished for supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong during a tournament.

All those games are made by Blizzard, more formally known as Activision Blizzard.

It all started on Oct. 6 in Taiwan during the Asia-Pacific Hearthstone Grandmasters, a tournament for the card-based game. Two casters were conducting a post-match interview with Chung Ng Wai, known by his screen name Blitzchung.

“Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time,” Chung said during the interview, while also wearing goggles and a face mask. Chung is based in Hong Kong, and the phrase he spoke has become a rallying slogan for pro-democracy protesters.



On Tuesday, Blizzard announced that Chung's prize money had been rescinded and that he was suspended from competitive play for a year. The two casters interviewing him were also fired.

According to Blizzard, Chung violated 2019 Hearthstone Grandmasters Official Competition Rules section 6.1, which forbids any act that "brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image."

"Grandmasters is the highest tier of Hearthstone Esports and we take tournament rule violations very seriously," said a statement from Blizzard. "After an investigation, we are taking the necessary actions to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future."

Blizzard also took down video of the interview, but it's still being shared on social media.