I remember when they wanted Overwatch characters in smash badly. I hope that shit never happens.
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Blizzard has cancelled the Overwatch Switch launch event at NintendoNYC
- Thread starter Gundam
- Start date
I remember when they wanted Overwatch characters in smash badly. I hope that shit never happens.
The hilarious thing about this nonsense is that if companies like Blizzard banned everyone who breaks their rules, servers worldwide would be empty within the week.
Nobody gives a shit about the rules until it threatens their bottom line.
Gaming is political though, as is storytelling in general. And most forms of cultural expression.
Not to mention punishing people for expressing their political stance.
Don't be silly. I'm sure it has NOTHING TO DO WITH CHINA. NOTHING.
I'm very curious how Nintendo's promotion of Overwatch for Switch will play out now. Before Blizzard bent the knee and ate the whole dong, I would have guaranteed we'd see a bunch of posts and video uploads for the game over Nintendo's various social media accounts, and now I wouldn't be surprised if they just entirely avoid the release at all costs.
Letting it silently fart out onto the eshop without a word would probably be the best course for Nintendo, but I wonder if that risks potential relationships with Activision/Blizzard.
Letting it silently fart out onto the eshop without a word would probably be the best course for Nintendo, but I wonder if that risks potential relationships with Activision/Blizzard.
They did say it was Blizzard's decision to do this.
With that said they've been awfully silent about the release even though it had a huge fanfare at the Direct. I'd imagine they'll have a Tweet celebrating it's release and a banner on the Eshop and that's it.
Sad because I know a friend who was going to this and was excited to be part of the launch but they are not even buying the game on switch anymore because of what happened.
To those saying that they should cancel blizzcon - no I don't think they will. It is far too late in the day to cancel it - people book flights from around the world to attend or participate in their tourneys like the overwatch World Cup - I highly doubt they will cancel the event. I think they are hoping this will relatively die down in the next 2 1/2 weeks enough that there will only be mild protests that they can contain but I think that horse has well and truly bolted and this now has a life of its own and has tarnished the brand enough for this to stick around for quite a while.
To those saying that they should cancel blizzcon - no I don't think they will. It is far too late in the day to cancel it - people book flights from around the world to attend or participate in their tourneys like the overwatch World Cup - I highly doubt they will cancel the event. I think they are hoping this will relatively die down in the next 2 1/2 weeks enough that there will only be mild protests that they can contain but I think that horse has well and truly bolted and this now has a life of its own and has tarnished the brand enough for this to stick around for quite a while.
That's the feeling I got too. I definitely think this is one of the few times Nintendo fully wants to avoid bad PR by association. Normally they like to be "apolitical" but I think they're very aware Blizzard crossed a line for many consumers.
So did American University when they protested, yet got no punishment outside their stream being cut off. Blizz don't give a fuck about their rules, why are you so happy to buy that sorry excuse? The casters also just were present when Blitzchung protested on stream and were fired on the spot. What rules did they break, breathing?
How can you be so god damn gullible and smug about it at the same time.
They're probably obligated to deliver a certain amount of promotion and I expect they'll meet their obligation.
If Blizzard had been smart and stayed consistent, there could have been an argument that this is just about enforcing rules.
Then came the Blizz China commentary about protecting dignity: https://www.thegamer.com/blizzard-official-chinese-account-national-dignity-china/
And not punishing others who broke the exact same rule about making political statements: https://www.techspot.com/news/82312...forfeit-tournament-protest-over-blizzard.html
This in addition to firing casters for what a player said, makes it clear that it wasn't a simple breaking of rules issue.
Then came the Blizz China commentary about protecting dignity: https://www.thegamer.com/blizzard-official-chinese-account-national-dignity-china/
And not punishing others who broke the exact same rule about making political statements: https://www.techspot.com/news/82312...forfeit-tournament-protest-over-blizzard.html
This in addition to firing casters for what a player said, makes it clear that it wasn't a simple breaking of rules issue.
Honestly - they should just cancel Blizzcon and refund everyone's money for tickets purchased
Blizzard should do a pre-recorded event / aka direct and share it with everyone about upcoming games
That is the only way to save face and minimize damage here from a business point of view
Any form of live event is just a major disaster waiting to happen
Blizzard should do a pre-recorded event / aka direct and share it with everyone about upcoming games
That is the only way to save face and minimize damage here from a business point of view
Any form of live event is just a major disaster waiting to happen
This is extremely cynical worldview that is both fatalist and somehow still stupidly nationalist.
First of all Activision Blizzard even though based on the United States is a vast multinational Fortune 500 company. It has immense power around the world even though gamers might see it only as a video game company. Companies HAVE influence. They are not puppets. (Or in this case are).
Spreading the word, boycotting and basically being angry are DOING something. They are valid and lawful means of protesting.
The last paragraph is just plain stupid. Everything is political. If you don't like it so be it. Play with yourself. The real world out there is going on and right now going to hell while you are angry about people "politicizing" things.
RIP gaming (1952-2019), destroyed by people not wanting to support a genocidal regime for the lulz.
It will be missed.
*children, dumb* "Let's not buy the products of a company that supports a totalitarian regime"
*me, a smart adult, chuckling* "Have you considered.....not holding them accountable for their actions?"
They just arrogantly figured nobody in the west would care, so they took the political position to kiss up to the CCP, so they could have the best of both worlds. Now instead their morally corrupt stance has put them in between a rock and a hard place, where every next step hurts their bottom line more. That's why this whole mess is so absolutely delicious.
Or in other words.
Blizzard just shot themselves in the foot.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about Western culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in China where you can become successful by being a sycophant to the government. If you screw liberty over in the West, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the Western public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase Blizzard games for any system, nor will they attend any of Blizzard's promotional events. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Blizzard has alienated an entire market with this move.
Blizzard, publicly apologize and cancel Blitzchung's ban or you can kiss your business goodbye.
Yes, the rule that states that anything that they deem inappropriate at their discretion can be grounds for removal? The rule that they can wield for any purpose and whose meaning can change at any time? Get outta here with this.
Seems you really dont see the point here. Prioritize your cool games over humans. Sick.
Seems like all this protesting of blizzard has gotten noticed by the mainstream media and lead to a lot more people being aware of what's going on in Hong Kong. Maybe it wasn't useless after all.
This is a stupid post, plain and simple.
Edit: If you want to hold your hands to your ears screaming LALALALA whilst the rest of the world continues, do that on your own accord. Your ignorance does not mean we are the problem.
I think it's the timing of this happening now. Any other time, Blizzard would have gotten away with it... Well, China would have gotten away with it, I should say. Not many people even batted an eye when China bullied companies to say "Taiwan/Hong Kong, China", forbade businesses or countries to recognise Taiwan as a country, the entire South East Asia sea dispute, etc...
It just so happens that HK protest is gaining attention, that's why this made the news.
Which is a good thing really, even if people aren't able to help, a voice of support is greatly appreciated.
It is a shame that Tibet and Uyghurs suffering weren't enough to gain international attention, but I will take whatever support there is.
Blizzard really has dug themselves into a massive hole. What an absolute PR disaster that a major company can no longer hold a product release event.
No doubt there will be protests at Blizzcon too. What is Blizz going to do? Cancel their own convention? Instead of hiding, Blizz needs to own this or it will continue to grow legs.
No doubt there will be protests at Blizzcon too. What is Blizz going to do? Cancel their own convention? Instead of hiding, Blizz needs to own this or it will continue to grow legs.
Supporting HK and "taking down" Blizzard is not mutually exclusive.
The Switch subreddit discussing this cancellation has been locked:
I wonder why?
I wonder why?
only no Q&A could make sense for them. People can stream everything from their phones.
It's absolutely hilarious seeing a couple of posters repeatedly saying that they don't want politics in their video game discussion. Going out of their way to erase any kind of discussion about Hong Kong or that Blizzard isn't a perfect company.
Trash.
They say it's because of their "no politics" rule, something that is almost always meant to mean "don't talk about uncomfortable things the mods disagree with."
Reminds me of r/CasualUK where you're not allowed to mention any politician's name but you can whine about political correctness and other such things until the cows come home.
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At this point, even if there is no Q&A session, I'm dead convinced people are going to heckle the shit out of the conference anyway - as they should. This seems even more obvious after how heckling-heavy this year's E3 conferences are. Blizzard fans are too passionate to let this slide.
Unless Blizzcon literally has no live audience, it's going to be full of trolling.
The first Pokémon Go fest was a disaster, they immediately refunded everyone plus $100 in game, but they still settled a class action lawsuit that saw everyone with a claim get 60% of travel expenses.
I can see them "trying" to do a weird livestream of some sort so they can control the narrative and in turn deliver any announcements.
They are in so deep now just cancel for a few years, see what happens with Hong Kong/China politics and try and rebuild with fans using good games. There is literally no point in having a Blizzcon right now. No one is interested in celebrating this company at the moment, I bet not even blizz employees.