The professional player Blitzchung was banned from the Grandmasters of Hearthstone for 6 months. You can find out how he reacted after the reduction of the punishment here.
Last week, Hearthstone player Blitzchung was banned by Blizzard from the Grandmasters League after he spoke out during a stream about the protests in Hong Kong. Although Blizzard reduced the 12-month ban to 6 months and Blitzchung will also receive his previously earned prize money, there is still dissatisfaction within the community.
Now Blitzchung himself has commented on the incident and issued a statement.
What does Blitzchung say? In his statement, Blitzchung explains that he was aware that his actions would have consequences.
First of all, I’m glad that Blizzard reconsidered its position on my ban. Earlier in the week, I had already told the media that I knew the consequences of my actions could be a punishment because I understood that my act would divert the conversation from the purpose of the event.
In the future, I will be more careful and express my opinions and my support for Hong Kong on private platforms.
This clearly shows that he was fully aware of the risks to his career.
Even Blizzard employees protested against the punishment.
Does Blitzchung find the new punishment appropriate? In the course of his explanation, Blitzchung states that he welcomes the reduction of the punishment, but still considers it quite long.
(…) Blizzard changed the duration of the ban from a year to 6 months. I also welcome that they reconsidered it. To be honest, 6 months is still quite long for me. But I was also told that I can continue to play in Hearthstone professional matches, which means they refer to the Grandmaster tournament.
I welcome this decision, because Grandmaster is currently the tournament with the highest level of play in competitive Hearthstone. But I hope that Blizzard will reconsider the punishment for the two casters.
The two mentioned casters were also banned for 6 months and are not allowed to comment on tournaments for Blizzard during this time. Their punishment was already eased; previously, they were to be banned from working for Blizzard for life.
Does Blitzchung still play Hearthstone? Although the duration of the ban has been reduced, Blitzchung does not yet know if he wants to play Hearthstone again in the future. At the end of his statement, he writes:
Lastly, many people wanted to know if I would compete in Hearthstone again in the future. Honestly, I still have no idea. Since my next tournament is likely the Grandmaster tournament of the next season, that’s still a few months away. I will take the time to relax a bit and decide whether or not I want to stay in the competitive Hearthstone scene.
You can read the complete statement in the original English here.
Would you continue playing if you were in Blitzchung’s position?
