‘We Moved Too Quickly’: Blizzard President Apologizes For Hong Kong Incident

64 responses to “‘We Moved Too Quickly’: Blizzard President Apologizes For Hong Kong Incident”

1. 

   djbear

   November 2, 2019 at 5:59 am

   Empty hollow apology from a now empty hollow company

   Fuck blizzard.

   Reply
   1. 

      scree

      November 2, 2019 at 6:41 am

      “We fucked up and now we’re losing money, please buy our shit again” That’s what I’m hearing

      Reply
      1. 

         skrybe

         November 2, 2019 at 4:21 pm

         Damned no matter what they do right? If they say nothing they’re supporting China, if they apologise it’s a fake apology to make money?

         I’m sorry, but I feel like there is nothing they could have done or said that would make people happy. I’m not sure whether it’s a legit apology of not, but I have to give them some credit for at least trying.

         Reply
         1. 

            scree

            November 3, 2019 at 7:01 am

            This far along? No. If they’d been honest and open from the get go, things may have been different. Instead they shut all conversation down. They acted like a company with something to hide.
            That’s not to say they won’t be forgiven in the future, maybe if they do a bunch of good deeds but for now, they need to take this hit and realise that their western audience matters as well.

            Reply
            1. 

               namiwakiru

               November 3, 2019 at 12:30 pm

               Are they being more honest and open though, their position hasn’t actually changed.
               I also can’t recall them shutting conversation down, unless you’re referring to the conversation of Hong Kong brought up by Blitzchung, which I would sort of agree with.
               (Even though I believe allowing that means they would also need to allow pro China players to make statements as well, which would prob not go down all that well)

            2. 

               scree

               November 3, 2019 at 2:59 pm

               I meant shutting down their reddit. Just not a great move.

            3. 

               namiwakiru

               November 3, 2019 at 3:21 pm

               Ooooh, I thought that had nothing to do with Blizzard though.
               It’s certainly believable that they could’ve influenced it but none of their official forums were shut down during the height of the controversy.
               (Some posts did get deleted though)

            4. 

               scree

               November 3, 2019 at 5:47 pm

               honestly, I don’t like when they delete posts if it’s not hugely offensive. It feels like a very slippery slope

            5. 

               namiwakiru

               November 3, 2019 at 7:55 pm

               Nah I’m not a big fan of that either.

               Had to respond to your reply here since our thread was shut down.
               I hadn’t realised our exchange had become so heated xD

            6. 

               scree

               November 4, 2019 at 6:43 am

               Nah, it wasn’t shut down, we just reach the reply limit. Otherwise we’d break the page. (they move slightly right, eventually they would take up the whole screen and the article wouldn’t fit =P)

2. 

   comixfan

   November 2, 2019 at 6:48 am

   Impressive that they publicly admitted they got it wrong with a promise to do better.

   Good to see such integrity from a AAA publisher.

   Reply
   1. 

      transientmind

      November 2, 2019 at 7:01 am

      No, this was a classic misdirection.

      He apologized… but not for the thing we’re mad about.

      He didn’t apologize about turning Blizzard into an extension of the Chinese government’s censorship department.

      He didn’t apologize for the fact that out of all the political speech on official channels the only kind of political speech they’ve ever punished was that which might upset the CCP, and that it is a punishment far harsher than you even get for cheating.

      That hasn’t changed. They stand by that. What he’s apologizing for is that they handed out the punishment so swiftly and communicated so late.

      That’s worth apologizing for, sure, but it’s not the thing that’s making us mad.

      It’s as if I apologized to my wife for not ‘communicating with her more‘ about my decision to start sleeping with her sister. That’s not why she’d be fucking mad. And it’s worse if I made no commitment to even STOP fucking her sister.

      This is a fucking non-apology and a bullshit misdirection. They’re apologising for something tiny and pretending it’s what everyone’s mad about, hoping that will mean they don’t have to apologize for the big thing.

      This was an insult to the intelligence of everyone who hears it.

      Reply
      1. 

         comixfan

         November 2, 2019 at 8:14 am

         “This comment is awaiting moderation. Check back soon!”

         Almost every post I make gets flagged for this so doesn’t show on site.

         It’s beyond frustrating, Kotaku. Fix this bs please!

         Reply
         1. 

            darren

            November 4, 2019 at 8:27 am

            You most likely hit some internal limit, probably got a huge amount of downvotes or ‘reports’ on a comment. It’ll pass in a few days.

            Reply
            1. 

               scree

               November 5, 2019 at 4:55 pm

               I think 5 downvotes and you end up in moderation hell. It’s annoying, but it was put in after a bunch of trolls took advantage of the non-moderated situation

      2. 

         comixfan

         November 2, 2019 at 8:16 am

         We’re? Us? Everyone?

         You can’t speak for everyone. You certainly don’t speak for me.

         I disagree with what you’re saying his apology was for. I didn’t read into it what you did at all.

         Reply
         1. 

            transientmind

            November 2, 2019 at 8:32 am

            You’re a myopic apologist irrelevant to the conversation, wilfully ignoring the incredibly basic and common English technique for setting frames of reference around collective ‘we’, so what you read into things doesn’t count for much at all.

            Reply
            1. 

               thepoetpyronius

               November 2, 2019 at 9:21 am

               Come on guys. Let’s not fight. That’s what Blizzard wants.

               *hugs*

            2. 

               thyco

               November 2, 2019 at 10:13 am

               ME NOT THAT KIND OF ORC!

            3. 

               comixfan

               November 2, 2019 at 12:09 pm

               Except that’s not what they want at all.

               Besides, I’m not the one throwing cheap insults around instead of remaining civil.

            4. 

               comixfan

               November 2, 2019 at 11:55 am

               “This comment is awaiting moderation. Check back soon!”

               Again… sigh.

            5. 

               comixfan

               November 2, 2019 at 11:59 am

               Awaiting moderation for a 6th time….

               That’s it. I give up. This posting system is rubbish.

            6. 

               comixfan

               November 2, 2019 at 12:02 pm

               Resorting to insults. How disappointing.

               Guess it was too much to expect a civil discussion.

            7. 

               callmejack

               November 2, 2019 at 2:52 pm

               Comix, don’t reply. The number 1 trigger for supposed freedom of speech activists is an opinion other than their own

            8. 

               callmejack

               November 2, 2019 at 3:03 pm

               why cant’t he give his opinion tho? because it different from yours?

            9. 

               darren

               November 4, 2019 at 8:29 am

               Because he was basing it of incorrect stuff?

               It’s my opinion that have 2 humps because you are a camel. <– that is an opinion that can be shut down because it’s based of something false.

         2. 

            djbear

            November 2, 2019 at 3:56 pm

            Auto moderated.

            Reply
         3. 

            djbear

            November 2, 2019 at 3:59 pm

            +10 to your social credit score comrade. The communist party appreciates your support of our country! Long live president Winnie the Pooh!

            Reply
            1. 

               callmejack

               November 2, 2019 at 11:43 pm

               another useless comment, me n a couple guys got a bet going on how many triggered comments you’ll post between now and Xmas, closest guess gets the pot.
               I’ve bet big mate don’t let me down

   2. 

      john_stalvern

      November 2, 2019 at 11:00 am

      You’re getting a lot of downvotes, but I assumed you were being sarcastic?

      edit: whoops, read the other comment. nevermind

      Reply
      1. 

         scree

         November 3, 2019 at 7:05 am

         I also read it as sarcasm, until I noticed they downvoted everyone who disagreed with them.

         Reply
   3. 

      scree

      November 3, 2019 at 7:09 am

      You’re allowed to have your opinion and people are allowed to disagree with you.

      You accept the apology, Transient says that for him, it was misdirection and explained why.
      You picked out something that had upset you (the use of we), Transient didn’t seem to appreciate the topic going on a tangent.
      Can’t you both agree to disagree?

      Reply
3. 

   nuffman

   November 2, 2019 at 11:09 am

   Nice to see #cancelculture still out in force. Especially from those commenting from their iphones, wearing their China made clothes..

   Looking forward to being downvoted into moderation hell by those hypocrites. *shrug*

   Reply
   1. 

      scree

      November 4, 2019 at 6:46 am

      Have you tried to buy anything not made in China? It’s friggin’ hard. You’d have to make it yourself. It’s not like everyone has a lot of options. (Also, screw Apple)

      Reply
      1. 

         nuffman

         November 4, 2019 at 11:49 am

         There’s *always* an option, the issue is, people only care about these things when it doesn’t impact on their day to day lives.

         Blizzard pull this stunt, you have the virtue signallers crying from the rooftops, “boycott Blizzard! I’ll never buy another Blizzard product ever again.”

         But they’ll gladly turn a blind eye when it starts to impact on their lives… We ALL know about Apple’s issues and their connections with China, but you don’t hear these same people boycotting Apple or throwing their phones away do you?

         There’s *always* a choice.

         Here are some phones not made in China:
         ASUS ZenFone 6 (Taiwan)
         LG G8 ThinQ (South Korea)
         LG V40 ThinQ (South Korea)
         LG V50 ThinQ (South Korea)
         Galaxy S10 series (South Korea)
         Sony Xperia 1 (Japan)

         But nope.. Gotta have those precious iphones

         But as you can see from my downvotes, I’m not wrong 🙂

         Reply
         1. 

            alexwalker

            November 5, 2019 at 4:35 pm

            Are you recommending someone buy the V40 or V50 phone? Friends don’t do that to friends.

            Reply
            1. 

               nuffman

               November 5, 2019 at 5:33 pm

               Look… I just wanted to fill out the list and make it look like I knew what I was talking about haha

         2. 

            scree

            November 5, 2019 at 4:50 pm

            I have a Sony. Mainly because I wasn’t a fan of all the phone looking the same.
            As for there’s always a choice, maybe there is, but sometimes that choice is “Do I eat, or pay my bills”. Choices aren’t always easy.
            You keep talking about apple, do you just really hate apple? I mean, I get it, I’m not a fan either.

            Reply
            1. 

               nuffman

               November 5, 2019 at 5:41 pm

               Apple is just the biggest and best example off the top of my head, especially because I know their exploits have been more then we’ll documented.

               One could easily live without having to buy any products made in China (or other countries with shady laws/practices).

               Just means you have 4 pairs of shoes instead of 15, for instance

            2. 

               scree

               November 6, 2019 at 6:33 pm

               I have four pairs of shoes. Runners, gumboots, sandals (which murder my feet) and slippers. Slippers are Aussie made. I wear my shoes into the ground as I don’t really have the money to always be buying shoes

            3. 

               nuffman

               November 6, 2019 at 7:33 pm

               Cool. I have 3.

               Runners, work boots and wog tappers, made in Japan, Australia and Italy respectively.

               I also have a brother in law that has 11 pairs of shoes.

               I’m just making the point, that there are choices… Because for most people, the choice is either “should I buy food/pay rent or buy my cigarettes/the latest iphone”. Etc

            4. 

               scree

               November 7, 2019 at 7:18 am

               Yeah, I’m a pensioner. Bills come first. Often I don’t have much choice but to buy things made from china. It’s usually what’s in my price range =(

4. 

   jengaship

   November 2, 2019 at 11:11 am

   We teach children to apologise better than that. What he said was even less than “I’m sorry you got hit” after hitting someone.

   Reply
   1. 

      kasterix

      November 2, 2019 at 9:57 pm

      Next they’ll be telling fans they’re the ones responsible… Just one of those straight up lies a company tells about how they’ve ‘listened to player feedback’, as the excuse for when they do something only they or those pulling the purse strings ever actually wanted.

      “We’ve been keeping a close eye, and ‘the data’ tells us that majority of players all clearly told us to bow down to China.”

      Reply
   2. 

      pylgrim

      November 3, 2019 at 7:37 pm

      “I’m sorry that after you got hit I didn’t make a concerned enough face.”

      Reply
5. 

   mirihawke

   November 2, 2019 at 11:39 am

   “Pausing for applause” sounds about right. We did the absolute bare minimum and apologised for nothing, please shower us with praise!

   Reply
6. 

   villeboy

   November 2, 2019 at 1:14 pm

   What a gutless thing to do, stick to your guns, don’t explain, he broke the rules you punished him. Never feel the need to explain actions to children

   Reply
   1. 

      pylgrim

      November 3, 2019 at 7:39 pm

      Never feel the need to explain censorship to your customers

      FTFY

      Reply
      1. 

         villeboy

         November 5, 2019 at 10:09 pm

         Didn’t need fixing, I would bet the average age of the snowflakes upset at blizzard tops out at 20 maybe 25. So yes children, my comment didn’t need fixing but thank you anyway for your attempt

         Reply
         1. 

            pylgrim

            November 6, 2019 at 8:54 pm

            Whatever contempt you feel entitled to shower at people based on their age, it doesn’t take away from my point: They are the company’s customers; as such they are entitled to expect and demand certain things. It’s in the company’s best interests as well: It’s much better when disgruntled customers voice their discontent than if they just stopped giving your company their businesses.

            Reply
   2. 

      scree

      November 4, 2019 at 6:48 am

      You do realise the rules were purposely ambiguous so they could change them at their discretion right?

      Reply
      1. 

         villeboy

         November 4, 2019 at 12:56 pm

         Yeah I do, but ambiguous or not he knew what he was doing and the risk of punishment, yet he chose to continue with it. Blizzard should never have to apologise for enforcement of rules or their over reaction.

         Reply
         1. 

            scree

            November 4, 2019 at 1:26 pm

            It’s entirely possible that he didn’t. There was no mention of “no political statements” so it may not have occurred to him that it was an issue. Without being able to ask him ourselves, we don’t know.
            And people are pissed because they are not a fan of what appears to be censorship. It’s a very thin line. People will be die hard fans, but the minute they think you’re censoring them, they’ll drop you like a bag of bricks. (*cough*f4focc*cough*)

            Reply
         2. 

            scree

            November 4, 2019 at 1:28 pm

            I just wanted to add, I don’t think sticking to their guns would’ve helped them either. I’m not entirely sure what I would do if I was stuck in their position. It’s definitely not an enviable place to be in

            Reply
            1. 

               villeboy

               November 5, 2019 at 9:29 pm

               It was damned if you do, damned if you dont, but they handled it correctly, you can’t be using businesses platforms for political motivated speech. Businesses are neutral or meant to appear neutral in politics, honestly who cared what blizzards stance on hong Kong is, I want to know when the next Diablo release is, and I certainly don’t care what some upstart, so called professional gamers view is either!!

            2. 

               scree

               November 6, 2019 at 7:25 am

               It is a crap situation for sure. However, it could have been handled better. They were probably too harsh. If they had just said “We want to be neutral. We don’t want to support either side” but they didn’t.

7. 

   alexwalker

   November 3, 2019 at 4:34 am

   Re. moderation comments – it’s the weekend and I’m the only one on call, but I’m also juggling that between being at Blizzcon, transcribing, getting hands-on time in and all the rest so … if a comment gets stuck it might take a day or so.

   Sorry all. Doing what I can.

   Reply
   1. 

      scree

      November 3, 2019 at 7:06 am

      Don’t stress Alex. If people want to start flame wars, that’s up to them.

      Reply
8. 

   doctorwhom

   November 3, 2019 at 10:43 am

   Can’t put my finger on it but J. Allen Brack’s hair disturbs me.

   Reply
9. 

   jerichosainte

   November 5, 2019 at 2:28 pm

   *blizzard* “sorry, not sorry.” lol

   What a joke. Like Transient said, he only apologised for acting too quickly. The problem was that they acted at all in this case. This was not an apology for the oppressive punishment they’ve handed out. This should not change anyone’s opinion of them what so ever.

   Reply
   1. 

      comixfan

      November 6, 2019 at 9:38 am

      So they should’ve let the guy break the rules and get away with it?

      Doesn’t matter what he said, the fact remains he broke the rules of the competition that he agreed to and deserves to be penalised for it.

      If he really wants to speak out on the issue, let him do so on his own stream. Hijacking someone else’s stream and taking the focus away from an esports tournament was not the way to do it.

      Reply
      1. 

         jerichosainte

         November 7, 2019 at 3:39 am

         You mean the rule that Blizzard wrote that allows them to punish someone for whatever reason they like? Sure sounds fair /s!

         And yet they did not punish others for doing the same, funny that. Kinda hypocritical, like how this punishment is weighed against their motto “Every voice matters”.

         No, Blizzard deemed he broke their rule to pander to the Chinese shackles that are placed on Blizzard for doing business in that country. It’s simple really, they value money over the simple act of someone showing support for a good cause.

         Reply
         1. 

            comixfan

            November 8, 2019 at 9:24 am

            Every voice does matter, and that guy has had plenty of opportunity to use his OWN platforms to let his voice be heard.

            He chose to break rules he agreed to abide by and hijack a platform that wasn’t his own to let his voice be heard, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he needs to accept the consequences of that choice.

            You can spout all the “pandering to Chinese shackles” conspiracy theories that you want, but what’s really simple is this just a case of guy broke the rules and received a punishment accordingly.

            Reply
            1. 

               jerichosainte

               November 13, 2019 at 8:15 pm

               Freedom of speech law would disagree with you there my friend and supersedes any rule made by Blizzard that clearly favours the party that wrote it. This is the reason why there was a bipartisan letter from congress sent to Bobby Kotick strongly urging them to reverse the punishment.

               https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-19-us-politicians-write-to-activision-blizzard-boss-bobby-kotick-expressing-deep-concern-over-punishment-of-hong-kong-hearthstone-pro

               There is no conspiracy, the evidence is pretty damning mate. Maybe familiarize yourself with the matter before commenting next time. Comprehensive links below for your edification.