Activision is a scummy company. The reason it seems to avoid the same kind of ire as companies like EA probably stems from the fact its talented developers at studios like Treyarch, Infinity Ward, and Blizzard Entertainment consistently produce high-quality games, almost without fail. Activision also employs some pretty underhanded tactics to avoid the same sort of controversy as some of its contemporaries, such as adding pay-to-win loot boxes to Call of Duty Black Ops IIII, long after reviews shipped.

Overwatch's Mei loves democracy.

These sorts of ethical questions can be considered subjective. The value of loot boxes certainly rests on the individual, and clearly people are buying them in droves or they wouldn't be included. That debate is entirely separate from what Activision-Blizzard did this week, however. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more I love(d) this company. My old band was aired live at the first Blizzcon event to an audience of hundreds of people. I have more than 10,000 hours played in World of Warcraft during the past 15 years. I dropped out of high school to kill Nefarian, instead of taking my exams. I have hundreds of hours in Diablo, Heroes of the Storm, and Overwatch. I had my preorder in for the Warcraft III remake. I have spent thousands of British pounds over the years on these games, merchandise, and books. Like most, I've suspected for a while that Activision was devouring Blizzard, but I've been naively hoping the company would retain its independence from the wider Activision, which seems to have nothing but contempt for both its customers and employees that support civil liberties. Activision-Blizzard not only crossed a line this week, it blew it up with a nuclear warhead. It's with some heartbreak that I simply cannot support this company anymore.

Bowing to dictators

In case you missed it, Blizzard banned a Hearthstone champion esports player this week, stripping his winnings to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, while also firing two commentators simply for being nearby to the incident in question. The reason? He voiced support for Hong Kong's human rights movement in a post-match interview. In a sane company, he might've picked up a couple of match suspensions at most. The Chinese government is aggressive with its censorship of cultural information it finds embarrassing, banning entire companies from operating from the lucrative region. South Park was banned as well this week, after airing an episode that mocked the Chinese government's censorship. The creators offered this "apology," further mocking them. Leveraging an aggressively vague terms of service passage that bans esports players from bringing the "company into disrepute," Activision-Blizzard delivered blitzchung's incredibly harsh punishment, publically bent the knee to Chinese censorship, and posted a blog post full of complacent ignorance for the implications of its actions. Even if blitzchung broke Blizzard's vague rules, in a sane company, he might've picked up a couple of match suspensions at most, maybe even a few months worth of banning. However, the fact that they stripped his winnings and fired the two commentators conducting the interview simply for being there speaks less about its arbitrary rules and more about capitulation in exchange for Chinese dictatorial money. Huge, deserved backlash