California-based game company Blizzard bans pro esports player and confiscates his prize money after he voices support for Hong Kong protesters

• Blizzard Entertainment has sent a professional esports player home from a tournament and handed him a 12-month ban after he voiced support for Hong Kong protesters during a postgame interview.
• The esports player, whose real name is Chung Ng Wai but who is known as Blitzchung, will also be fined the full amount of the prize money he won from the Hearthstone Grandmasters regular-season tournament.
• During the interview on the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stream, Blitzchung appeared wearing a gas mask, which he lifted up before shouting “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!” in Chinese.
• Blizzard appears to be arguing that Blitzchung’s statements about the Hong Kong protests offended “a portion or group of the public” or damaged the company’s image.
• The situation highlights the thorny trade-off US-based companies face when operating in China, which offers a lucrative and massive market but a different set of rules companies must play by.

A professional esports player has been fined his prize money and given a yearlong ban after he voiced support for Hong Kong’s protesters during a postgame interview.

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Categorized in: Esports News