Has #BoycottBlizzard succeeded?

As many of you might be aware a large #BoycottBlizzard movement has started recently in response to their actions towards Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung, a Hong Kong Hearthstone player who put on a gas mask and shouted, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!” during his post game interview last Sunday.

That is what many of you probably already know. This is a news story that has grown larger than the reach of Hearthstone, but what many of you may not know is the deeper Hearthstone context to this story. If you are interested in the Hong Kong specific side of the story and want to educate yourself on what is going on there in the fight for freedom, I’d suggest checking out a resource like The Guardian for up to date news on Hong Kong.

What was the punishment exactly?

For his actions blitzchung was banned from all Hearthstone esports for a year, his prize money from season 2 of Grandmasters (which started in August 2019) will be withheld and the two casters for the Taiwanese language stream were also deemed liable and Blizzard had stated they would “cease working with both casters”.

This would have effectively ended the careers of both blitzchung and the casters. In response to the punishment blitzchung has courageously stood firm. He has told the AFP that he has “No regrets” and responded in more detail stating,

I sacrificed time hanging out with my friends and studying because of this competition. Even though it seemed that I had wasted four years of time, I have something more important in my heart – if we lose the movement, Hong Kong will end forever.

Has this ever happened before?

The short answer is no, but the longer answer is what you will get here. Blizzard have never had a political statement like this happen during a broadcast for a premier Hearthstone event, but they have had to whip out the rule-book on players before.

During the Hearthstone Global Games (the nation based team competition in Hearthstone that is akin to events like the Overwatch World Cup) in October 2018, the team from Chinese Taipei was disqualified for cheating (stream sniping) during an official match against Singapore. Before we get into the details of the punishment it is important to note that Chinese Taipei is the name given to Taiwan by the Chinese government and the same name used for Taiwan in events like the Olympics. This was a clear indicator last year of Chinese political bias by Blizzard.

The wheel turns

Next we can look at the punishment for this offense, arguably not a major case of cheating, but still something you would expect fairly harsh punishment of. 

Of the team of four the two main players that were suspected to be responsible for cheating were Roger and Shaxy. The other two players involved were reall and the 2017 Hearthstone World Champion Tom60229. Roger and reall had also been involved in a previous win-trading violation and because of this they were banned from Grandmasters for a year. This ban was only announced after the 2018/19 World Championships in April 2019 which included Roger as he had qualified by winning the Winter Championship event in March 2019, months after both incidents. The 2018/19 World Championships were also hosted in “Chinese Taipei” and Blizzard stuck fairly strongly to this nomenclature.

Shaxy and Tom60229 were actually invited to be part of the Grandmasters program in 2019. It was understandable that they would invite these players, especially Tom60229 as a former world champion, because they were some of the top players in the Asia Pacific region and they were not deemed directly responsible for the cheating by Blizzard.

Reactions matter

In this previous cheating scandal it is important to note that Blizzard did apologise on Reddit for their slow reaction and promised to improve and be more transparent. On the Roger and reall ban specifically Sam Braithwhite, Senior Global Franchise Lead for Hearthstone esports said,

While Roger and reall may still compete in Hearthstone Masters Qualifiers and Masters Tour events, due to having two rule violations last year, they will not be invited to the inaugural year of Hearthstone Grandmasters. Grandmasters will be the highest level of competitive Hearthstone, and its competitors will be held to higher standards, not just in performance, but also in conduct.

This did seem to indicate that they would have “higher standards” for Grandmasters, but given the severity of the actions of the players involved in the “Chinese Taipei” cheating scandal and blitzchung’s actions of protest, the response from Blizzard seems to be vastly out of proportion.

But he broke the rules right?

Some have tried to defend Blizzard’s actions by noting that blitzchung’s actions contravened section 6.1 of the rules for players.

Engaging in any act that, in Blizzard’s sole discretion, brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard image will result in removal from Grandmasters and reduction of the player’s prize total to $0 USD, in addition to other remedies which may be provided for under the Handbook and Blizzard’s Website Terms.

The problem with this rule is that it is both extremely vague and extremely punishing. Blizzard have backed themselves into a corner when it comes to the punishment for the breaking of this rule. Blitzchung for his part, seems like he was aware that he may have been breaking a rule, but as we quoted earlier has, “No regrets”.

Open and shut

So it’s a simple open and shut case right? He broke the rules and must face the punishment. In my opinion, it’s not that simple. Sometimes it’s the rules that need to change, and sometimes it is only in the face of injustice that we discover this. 

This was a contract that blitzchung had very little choice but to sign. Sustaining a career as a player outside of Grandmasters is extremely difficult without a big stream or some such alternative income. Many pros that didn’t get selected for Grandmasters have actually quit Hearthstone altogether. Currently, there is no foreseeable future for non-Grandmasters players to play full time. This contract was really his only option to continue a career he had spent almost four years of his life building. He didn’t have much choice, no matter what the contract included.

Another point to note is that during Blizzard and TeSPA’s college league, students from American University (AU) held up a sign saying “Free Hong Kong, boycott Blizzard” and Blizzard chose not to punish them at all. The AU team decided to forfeit the match and season though, saying that it was hypocritical of Blizzard to punish blitzchung and not them. 

The community response

The #BoycottBlizzard response on social media has been far reaching, way beyond just Hearthstone players. We have seen a lot of solidarity for blitzchung from the general public, extending far beyond the gaming sphere.

Most notably Brian Kibler, who is one of the most prominent Hearthstone casters and streamers and a MTG Hall of Famer, has tweeted out a statement that he will not be casting the Grandmaster finals at Blizzcon and that he will have no involvement in Grandmasters going forward. This kind of statement from such a well respected and liked member of the community is huge. It was followed by Nathan “Admirable” Zamora, a fellow long time Hearthstone caster, also stating that he “wholeheartedly” supports blitzchung. He also stated he won’t be part of the Grandmasters broadcasts for Blizzcon or the upcoming Masters Tour event in Bucharest.

It’s not only been casters that have stood up in solidarity. William “Amnesiac” Barton, a fellow Grandmaster from America, has stated his solidarity with blitzchung and the people of Hong Kong. This despite potential repercussions for himself and his future in Grandmasters.

The pressure tells

In the early hours of the 12th of October Blizzard released a statement by J. Allen Brack, the President of Blizzard in which they attempted to explain their stance, doubling down on their decision, while rolling back some of the punishment. 

So blitzchung will get the prize money he is owed, and only a six month ban. This is progress, but the problem is that if he is dropped from Grandmasters then there is not much of a difference between a six month or one year ban. That’s because the Grandmasters system, as it stands, is exceptionally difficult to break into. There are hundreds of players from each region competing for two spots each season (from 2020). The process for Grandmaster selection is supposed to be based on prize money earned throughout the Masters Tour events in a year (or season) however it is ultimately at Blizzard’s discretion.

It’s not all roses, though

Another issue is that the Masters Tour events that provide the platform for players to earn money and entrance into Grandmasters require online qualification. The qualifiers for the 2020 events have already started now. They usually end at least a month before the Masters Tour event itself. With this and the fact that the remaining dates for Masters Tour events for 2020 are unknown the impact that a six month ban will have is rather significant. If it does effectively prevent blitzchung from participating in the Masters Tour then his path back to Grandmaster, and a viable career as a professional Hearthstone player, is effectively blocked for a year anyway. As things stand now, it will be extremely difficult for blitzchung to continue his Hearthstone playing career without a lot of external help.

As for the casters, it will be much more difficult for them to find casting work after the six month ban as they wouldn’t have a recent history of work to show. Additionally, with the opaque manner in which talent is hired for any esports event it’s also entirely possible that they may never be hired again by Blizzard, effectively ending their career prospects as casters due to the lack of third party tournaments since Blizzard initiated the Grandmasters program.

What can be done?

In this writer’s opinion, the only way we can stand up to corporate greed is to stand up together. I’m not sure there has ever been a clearer case for player unions. We need organisations that can protect players from unfair dismissal and can protect their fellow players from having the difficult decision to put their own futures on the line by making a stand. Grandmaster players are essentially employees of the Hearthstone marketing engine, the league exists to promote Hearthstone to as wide an audience as possible.

This means that Grandmasters players need the same kinds of protections that we are lucky enough to experience here in South Africa, they need the same rights to unionise and fight together for the rights that are being denied to the employees of companies like Blizzard in the game development sector.

Blizzard, and game development as an industry, has a history of treating its workers in shocking ways, the retrenchment of hundreds of Blizzard staff amidst record profits at the beginning of the year was a perfect example of this. Working together and creating a movement to protect esports players from exploitative contracts, like those offered by some MGOs and in this case Blizzard, is the only way we can create a future where having a career in gaming is a realistic possibility we can tell future generations. If we don’t then it can all be taken away from you in a moment.

Closing sentiment

Nathan “Admirable” Zamora said it best at the end of his statement:

In Hearthstone, good strategic play involves making the right choice, even if that choice will sometimes cost you. You think about the range of possibilities from the other side. With the hand you’re dealt, you make the best choice you can, even if the foreseeable outcomes hurt. That doesn’t mean you should make worse choices – it means do the right thing, even if you pay the price.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Esports Central.