Despite a busy BlizzCon, Blizzard Entertainment can’t seem to do enough to win back fans after handing down a six-month suspension to professionalHearthstoneplayer Blitzchung for showing his support of Hong Kong protestors. Now, one of Blizzard’s top developers forOverwatch 2has stated that Blitzchung’s suspension should be “reduced more or eliminated.”
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Jeff Kaplan, lead game director forOverwatch 2, said that he was “relieved” to hear thatBlitzchung’s suspension was reduced from 12 months to six months, but also stated, “I think the suspension should be reduced more or eliminated, but that’s just me.” Kaplan added, “I’m obviously a huge supporter of free speech; it’s something that’s very important to me … I think the punishment was too harsh and I was greatly relieved when they gave his money back.”
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Kaplan isn’t the first Blizzard employee to speak out against the company’s actions on Blitzchung, asHearthstonegame director Ben Lee also called it “too harsh” when asked about the initial decision to suspend the player.The original suspension was widely criticizedby other esports professionals, players, and gaming community members, as well as members of the US Senate, which then led to Blizzard Entertainment reducing the suspension.
Kaplan added that most of his staff didn’t even know about the incident until they saw news articles reporting on the issue. On issuing suspensions to players Kaplan added, “That process usually takes about four or five days to make the decision. There’s always a group of us involved in deciding what the punishment should be … I was shocked that such a harsh penalty was levied.”
Blitzchung has since taken responsibility for his actionsand offered his gratitude for Blizzard reducing his suspension, while also addressing the length of the suspension. “My act could take the conversation away from the purpose of the event. Six months is still quite a lot to me,” Blitzchung said on Twitter.
