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(Polygon) BlizzCon 2019: Blizzard apologizes for its response to Hong Kong protests
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If Blizzard does not censor speech on behalf of China they'd be banned in China. That's the point. It's why thier apology was so lame. Any media company that sells their stuff in China will have to censor themselves if they want Chinese money.
The NBA was banned in China for one tweet by a team manager. The CPC does not tolerate dissent.
Trying to point out that they posted it on an iPhone is you being this guy.
Where's that "BUT YOU TAKE PART IN SOCIETY" comic when you need it?
Edit: there it is.
I don't agree with the premise of the comic.
Trying to point out that they posted it on an iPhone is you being this guy.
It is a bad apology but it is the best they can do without angering their partners and panicking their investors.
Empty words but some people love them.
Empty words but some people love them.
Genuinely asking - is that dude even able to say everything that everyone wishes he had said? Like, everyone is saying "he should've unbanned blitzchung" or whatever, but...does he even have the power to do that? What if behind the scenes he's said that to the people who really own Blizzard or whatever, and they basically said "say goodbye to your job and tell your entire team to do the same".
I'm not making excuses for any of this, but I just wonder how realistic it is to be saying "he should've done this and said this" etc. - and if what he did say was really all he was able to say.
I don't know.
I'm not making excuses for any of this, but I just wonder how realistic it is to be saying "he should've done this and said this" etc. - and if what he did say was really all he was able to say.
I don't know.
Yup. China is forcing western companies to become arms of their cultural censorship efforts in exchange for access to their giant market. And Blizzard's strategy is, understandably but also pathetically, to try really hard to convince their customer base that it isn't the case. Blitzchung shone a light on the danger of the practice, and Blizzard is now apologizing for not hiding the truth well enough at first.
Your framing uses "impossible choice" rhetoric, which is really unhelpful.
Trying to point out that they posted it on an iPhone is you being this guy.
I mean Apple has its own HK censorship scandal too. Should they not be attacked too like Blizzard?
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/10/20907596/apple-hong-kong-protests-app-removed-china
They quoted your whole post as it was before you edited it.
Be as honest as you like but next time you chide someone for not quoting you correctly, don't forget to add a disclaimer that you added the part they didn't quote only later.
I don't consider not doing business with China an impossible choice.
Thank you! Someone gets it. Blizzard didn't just ban Blitzchung because they love censorship but because that's the price any media business must take to be allowed to operate in China.
Lol. "Sorry for being assholes, here's Diablo 4".
You can take your Diablo 4 and shove it up your ass.
You can take your Diablo 4 and shove it up your ass.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeak. I really hope people don't let them slide from this just because of Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 hype. This was so empty and pointless and pathetically beats around the bush.
My favorite part was the pause for reaction, and that he almost didn't get one and you can kind of see the panic set in so he starts to talk and then people start cheering because the uncomfortable silence almost got too long.
Are you in a position to make these sorts of decisions in your job? It's easy to armchair CEO.
It's also much easier to never get into a business relationship in China than to pull out of one. Cutting off a major revenue stream is never easy. There are consequences.
Well then comapnies can't complain about PR disasters or when people call for boycotts. They made a choice for more money over human rights and they have to live with that.
Well, its not just money. There's jobs, contracts, lawsuits and all soft of things behind every corporate action.
Yes they should. What is the point you're trying to make in this thread? That anyone who doesn't scour the entire planet to complain about literally every single bad thing that happens is a hypocrite for complaining about this particular bad thing?
Worded apology. Aight.
But now you have to action next time that supports those words because until then people will take this as an empty apology and that's it.
But now you have to action next time that supports those words because until then people will take this as an empty apology and that's it.
Wow that is a bad apology:
"Hey we fucked up, but look at all the games we got - isn't it great what we do?"
I was hoping they would put a good one out, because I like what they announced but this is empty as fuck. I'm staying on the fuck Blizzard train for the time being.
"Hey we fucked up, but look at all the games we got - isn't it great what we do?"
I was hoping they would put a good one out, because I like what they announced but this is empty as fuck. I'm staying on the fuck Blizzard train for the time being.
Blizzard decided to explicitly support China's human rights violations. They made their bed and now they get to lie in it.
I thought the apology was pretty weak but I think there is real emotion behind the person giving it. Almost as if that individual wanted to say more or something else.
Galaxy brain type of stupid. Truly unbelievable that people still cannot understand that participating in a system that you cannot easily escape does not lessen your critique on the elements of that system.
The only choice blizzard needs to make is to not censor Blitzchung. The rest of the equation is up to China.
I don't think that framing the entire issue as "blizzard shouldn't profit off of the Chinese market" lends clarity or calls for accountability.
What you're doing right now is called whataboutism, please don't do that. It helps no one.
You say that as though Blizzard's current predicament isn't a direct result of decisions that were made prior to this point. Blizzard wasn't born into the world holding a Chinese silver spoon. Blizzard made a choice.
I for one have stopped using an iphone and now only tweet using smoke signals from my self sustaining mountain cave.
Yeah, and that choice has been fantastic for them so far in expanding their business. No one gave a shit when they entered the Chinese market a decade ago, and it's not like China started their human rights abuses this year.
If you think they remotely regret their business in China, I got news for ya
Uh. So clearly you understand why they should be held accountable for their choices. It's kinda weird that you want to talk about the consequences of cutting off a revenue stream but not the consequences of shifting towards reliance on the Chinese market.
And no shit Blizzard regret doing business with China. That's the entire problem.
We all know how the Chinese government would react. We have the NBA incident as precedent. Xi is a tough cookie. Just wait for the real shit show when China finally blocks global Steam in China after the
People forgot capitalism isn't the end all to humanity. Money is not all that matters.
No one is arguing Blizzard can't make money from China. People are pointing out that choosing money and explicitly supporting these devastating human rights violations is wrong. Blizzard made it clear today they support oppression and genocide and they deserve to be criticized for it.