The following editorial piece, while attached to my name, is the sole property of the anonymous Blizzard employee who pitched it for publishing. The opinions and information in this piece are not reflective of Blink & Recall, anyone on Blink & Recall staff, the Overwatch League, any Overwatch League athletes, organizations, and any other Overwatch League, Activision-Blizzard, or Blizzard Entertainment associates who have been interviewed or reported on via this platform.

A former Blizzard employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, came forth to me with their own story. This former employee wanted to voice their support for Blitzchung, and give insight on the impact Blizzard had on their life. And of course, how the recent events have changed how they view the company they were once proud to be a part of. As a journalist, it is my responsibility to ethically report on stories that come my way, and give a platform to those who do not have a platform of their own. This is seen as an opinion piece by an anonymous contributor. Any edits that have been made are purely grammatical, and were approved by the anonymous contributor.

The anonymous contributor has given me permission to state that anyone else is more than welcome to run this piece. We simply request you credit us, with the URL, as the original source. If you choose to run the same featured image, please credit Robert Paul.

If you are a current or former Blizzard employee who would like to tell their story in confidence, please check out this tweet for my contact information. My DMs are also open.

The featured image for this post was provided by Robert Paul.

I remember walking into Blizzard’s office way back when as a fan, ready to start my first day within those hallowed walls. Granted, the building was sinking and when it rained, you would be be shin deep in water going to your car, which feels rather poetic at the moment.

It was on that first day that I became exposed to Blizzard’s Core Values, the guiding principles that would inform the professional life of my colleagues and I. In the decade that I worked at Blizzard they became, and still are, the guideposts against which I weigh the decisions I make in life. I can say, unequivocally, that I am a better person today because of these Core Values and the weight they continue to carry in my life.

Lead Responsibly Think Globally Play Nice; Play Fair Learn and Grow Gameplay First Commit to Quality Embrace Your Inner Geek Every Voice Matters

These values, to a vast number of Blizzard employees, are more than just a set of words strung together. Day in and day out, they live and breath them. However, it appears that the decision makers and executives have lost sight of those words, or are in a position where they just don’t care.

I’ve been out of the loop on esports in general for awhile, and I was never a decision maker at this level at Blizzard. However, during my time with Blizzard, I was a leader of several absolutely amazing customer support teams, and I had the opportunity to work with the gaming media, and talented esports players from across the globe. I recently read the information surrounding Ng Wai “blitzchung” Chung, a professional Hearthstone player.. Blizzard have removed him from Grandmasters, banned him from Hearthstone Esports for a year, and are withholding the money he has earned through competition.

Such a statement would not even have registered on the radar if it was reported to Blizzard’s Customer Service department; if it were made in-game. If by some chance it had been reported and any player was suspended for it, it would be overturned. There is nothing about what Blitzchung said that would have violated the spirit of Blizzard’s policies.

The problem is that the policies are vaguely written, leaving them open to interpretation – or at least, open to external interpretation. Internally, the policies have historically been a lot more specific, but they are also dynamic. As a result, more specific policies are spun up from time to time. At the time I left Blizzard, there was no policy where Blitzchung’s words would have been viewed as an ‘actionable offense’.

Why would Blizzard suspend an esports player for something that would never rise to the same level, or even be flagged at all, if it were brought to a Blizzard Customer Support team as a potential in-game policy violation? My personal assumption (and I would suspect, the assumption of many of my colleagues) is because of the impact that such a statement could have on the mainland Chinese populace, and, more importantly, their business prospects with the Chinese Government and Tencent (whom Blizzard partners with to handle their properties within the Chinese territory). Blizzard has historically made adjustments to their games to fit with Chinese censors over the years (Undead in WoW, and almost all of Icecrown in WotLK).

The Chinese market is a considerable portion of Blizzard’s business. Which brings us back to is the root of this decision: cold hard cash. Blizzard doesn’t want to risk losing that business. Blizzard’s executives, Activision | Blizzard executives, shareholders, and Bobby Kotick want the money more than they care about the ethical and moral dilemma.

The Chinese government is oppressive across the board. They stifle religious freedom and subjugate dissidents. They control the media, they prop up despotic regimes and continually stifle what little freedoms their people have.

The people of Hong Kong are protesting for their freedoms and their rights. They are being brutalized by a regime and a police force who have begun to use live ammunition – protesters have been killed.

“Leaked documents show [Beijing and Hong Kong Authorities] loosened guidelines on the use of lethal force on the eve of the student being shot. Changes including removing a line that said “officers will be accountable for their own actions.” (Source: The Guardian)

And that’s not even the half of it. Take a few moments to do a Google search about what is going on in Hong Kong. View Blitzchung’s words through that lens.

Blizzard has been championed as an inclusive company – their games are filled with representation (and yes, there is still a long way to go in that regard). But to silence someone for speaking out against injustice at the hands of an authoritarian regime? Putting profit over human rights? If this is Blizzard after Mike Morhaime, then I am glad I got off the train when I did.

The executive leadership at Activision | Blizzard should be ashamed. They have kowtowed to an authoritarian regime in pursuit of the almighty dollar at the expense of their soul. They have forever stained a once proud brand.

The only thing left to say is this: “Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our age!”

– A Former Employee

PS: To my former colleagues, I love every one of you. I’m sorry that you are living through, and dealing with, the blowback from this abhorrent decision.

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