Because his wife wrote nasty tweets, the Hearthstone professional Savjz was excluded from events.
When it comes to Hearthstone, Blizzard has often made a rather poor showing in communication in recent months. Many still think back to the Blitzchung scandal. Now, due to another issue, the professional player Savjz (Janne Mikkonen) has also been affected. He was excluded from future tournaments and events – because his wife wrote nasty things on Twitter.
What happened? When Blizzard cut 800 jobs last year, Savjz’s wife, Christina Mikkonen (known as “ZerinaX” on Twitter), was among those laid off.
In July, Chris Attalus, one of Hearthstone’s community managers, wrote that one should try to apply for a job at Blizzard.
ZerinaX responded to this offer with quite harsh words: “Do you really mean that, Chris?” and later explained that the pay in that job was “shit.” The entire “Commercial department is currently a disaster.”
Chris Attalus and Savjz apparently had a conversation afterwards. The professional player was told that he was “a burden” for such events due to his wife. At least, this is how Savjz explained it in a tweet.
Blizzard apologizes – NDA was supposed to be the real reason
This is how Blizzard has responded: In a more recent tweet, Savjz explained that Blizzard has lifted this ban. He received an apology from the community lead – he could also continue to participate in future events or attend them as a guest.
He thanks everyone who stood by him.
Savjz further states that the reason for his exclusion was not his wife’s tweets, but that he was not willing to sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Savjz explicitly states here that this had never been a topic before, and a NDA had never been mentioned.
In another tweet, he explained that “Christina’s ban was never a matter for the company, and the employee who said that had neither the authority nor the power to enforce [the ban].”
Finally, Savjz states that he still has the impression that he and his wife were treated unfairly. Ultimately, however, he wants to “leave it behind.”
Which side is telling the whole truth here, and whether a NDA was really the reason for the (very short) ban, is probably not so easy to determine.
