Hello, Deimos? I would like to request the ability to embed images for this post in particular because there are simply no words in the English language that can be considered an adequate response...
The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.
Hello, Deimos? I would like to request the ability to embed images for this post in particular because there are simply no words in the English language that can be considered an adequate response to this horseshit.
And I get that you made a rule that gives you plausible deniability and an elastic cause to boot undesirables, but don't you fucking lie and say "this has nothing to with the views that he expressed" when you disappeared the VOD, had an official account apologize for offending China, and stayed quiet all week composing whatever you were going to say stateside in response to your actions. I can only hope that you would act with similar expediency in the future if someone has a "heated gamer moment" on stage, or goes on a rant about the SJeWs on an afterstream. I can't even do that, because I don't really hope for anything from you guys after this. You made a decision, and we'll see if it works out for you.
I'm not very familiar with this story, but from what I've gathered, it is nearly identical to the Daryl Morey situation that is going on with the NBA, so first I'll say the same thing I said about...
I'm not very familiar with this story, but from what I've gathered, it is nearly identical to the Daryl Morey situation that is going on with the NBA, so first I'll say the same thing I said about that situation. We shouldn't be surprised by any of this, especially after what happened to Colin Kaepernick in the NFL. Sports, and in this case E-sports, are just entertainment. The companies and organizations that produce this entertainment want to reach as many people as possible without pissing any of them off. Blizzard and the NBA could potentially lose billions of dollars from China in the wake of these comments, the same way the NFL and San Francisco 49ers were at risk to lose millions from the Kaepernick situation. Of course they will do anything to prevent that from happening. Ryen Russillo had a pretty good take on this on his podcast earlier this week, and while it's focused on the NBA, I encourage everyone to listen to it.
One noticeable difference between this situation and the NBA situation is the official response. Blizzard obviously saw the NBA's response and the backlash it recieved in China, which is why they're taking a harder position against the person who made the comments. They don't want to lose money like the NBA already has. It sucks that these companies wont take a stand in support of values that we think are important, but everyone has a price. It's easy to sit back and say that they should do the right thing when we aren't the ones risking shitloads of money.
I found this statement by a linguist on twitter interesting. She thinks the letter might have been written by a CN native (or at least in collaboration with).
I found this statement by a linguist on twitter interesting. She thinks the letter might have been written by a CN native (or at least in collaboration with).
Same, but I'm fairly convinced J Allen Brack didn't write the statement. It's absolutely not his writing style and the weirdness does jump out to me and I'm not the only one it's jumped out to....
Same, but I'm fairly convinced J Allen Brack didn't write the statement. It's absolutely not his writing style and the weirdness does jump out to me and I'm not the only one it's jumped out to.
And if he didn't write it, it's good to ask who did.
Who would write a statement for the CEO of Blizzard on Chinese affairs? Either the CEO or its PR department. It's not unlikely some Chinese natives were involved in said PR department for this...
That response is disappointing. They had the entire week to respond and only did so at the last hour, hoping it would get buried going into the weekend. My degree, and a good chunk of my...
That response is disappointing. They had the entire week to respond and only did so at the last hour, hoping it would get buried going into the weekend.
My degree, and a good chunk of my professional career, has been in Public Relations. I can tell you with certainty that the best possible response from Blizzard (one that would have shown they were actually committed to their “values” and were truly repentant in hopes of saving their players) would have come the day after the incident with Blitzchung. Any PR firm worth their salt would have made the point to them that, regardless of their desires for financial expansion into China, if they didn’t head this event off quickly and decisively, it would continue to spiral and they’d risk losing both Chinese and global markets. The PR firm also would have told them that there wasn’t a way to keep both.
Make no mistake, Activision Blizzard chose China. Whether they were forced to or did so voluntarily doesn’t really matter. They chose China and we knew that when they decided to be silent. This “apology” just reinforces that.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes. I’m still waking up with coffee and shaking my head at their audacity.
Yep. Also worth noting that they dropped it on Friday evening after 5 PM Pacific, which is pretty much the worst possible time to release news if you actually want it to get any attention....
Yep. Also worth noting that they dropped it on Friday evening after 5 PM Pacific, which is pretty much the worst possible time to release news if you actually want it to get any attention. Sometimes people call this a "Friday news dump" when bad news is released late on Friday deliberately to avoid attention.
It just seems to be a superficial show of making a response, not really anything meaningful.
I read the first sentence of your comment before reading the press release. I was expecting a "sorry if you were offended" type non-apology but this isn't even trying to be that. If anything this...
I read the first sentence of your comment before reading the press release. I was expecting a "sorry if you were offended" type non-apology but this isn't even trying to be that. If anything this statement is at least useful as an example of amoral and hypocritical corporate woke-ism: it drips with back-patting language speaking of inclusion and diversity and safety, but it's nothing more than a cynical attempt to use the language of social progress to advance their agenda and stifle criticism.
Especially telling is this:
Moving forward, we will continue to apply tournament rules to ensure our official broadcasts remain focused on the game and are not a platform for divisive social or political views.
Supporting pro-democracy protesters against a brutal Orwellian state is "divisive" now, is it? Well, I guess that's true enough. This sort of thing just really underlines the fact that no matter how much corporations wrap themselves in rainbow flags or have women-are-awesome ad campaigns, when it comes to taking a moral stand that isn't easy and profitable they're still the same as they've always been.
The specific views expressed by blitzchung were NOT a factor in the decision we made. I want to be clear: our relationships in China had no influence on our decision.
It's been said but does anyone believe Blizzard would have been so harsh if blitzchung had said something like "we need to do more to address climate change"? Is there actual utility to such a bald-faced lie, or is it just a corporate PR reflex?
Someone would have to state in a post-match interview about how he supports every woman's right to equality or wants gay people to be able to marry, then grin, stare into the camera and say "Okay...
I have to wonder if a winner used their segment to talk about sexism in the games industry in America, or institutional racism, or any other issue that would be relevant here at home, would Blizzard still make this same decision?
Someone would have to state in a post-match interview about how he supports every woman's right to equality or wants gay people to be able to marry, then grin, stare into the camera and say "Okay Blizzard, ban me now."
Surprised no one else has mentioned this golden little one liner. Yeah, let's defend an oppressive regime that literally harvests the organs of live prisoners, and is actively committing genocide,...
We want to ensure that we maintain a safe and inclusive environment for all our players
Surprised no one else has mentioned this golden little one liner. Yeah, let's defend an oppressive regime that literally harvests the organs of live prisoners, and is actively committing genocide, and talk about creating inclusive environments. Don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable after all.
People aren't up in arms about this just because it's trendy, and they are not going after Blizzard with the goal of making game streams more political. The specifics of this situation are what...
People aren't up in arms about this just because it's trendy, and they are not going after Blizzard with the goal of making game streams more political. The specifics of this situation are what have spurred people into action: how overboard and swift Blizzard's response was, how quickly (and intensely) they apologized to China, and the nature of the situation in China right now are all coming together as a perfect storm of rage. People are not railing against Blizzard as some kind of abstracted method of supporting the protestors directly—that's inane. Instead, it's forming more as an information campaign to show that the CCP cannot and should not have such power over companies and organizations in the West, and a Western company kowtowing like this is simply unacceptable.
After all, the NBA is getting hit with the same stuff too. That situation shares the same spirit and frustration as this Blizzard one. Their goals are similar, and it is not to make video game streams more political.
Brack's apology doesn't address the actual issue, and that's why the rage on Blizzard is continuing.
Yes, this would be sufficient. Why would I care about their stock value when judging them?
What do you want him to say that would make this okay with you? "We condemn china. By the way shareholders, we're now worth 25% of what we were before I uttered that sentence."
Yes, this would be sufficient. Why would I care about their stock value when judging them?
I'm sorry, but I don't think your estimate about how many people have what motivation is good enough to have the conclusions you wound up with. Is there any data backing that up? Right now, it...
I'm sorry, but I don't think your estimate about how many people have what motivation is good enough to have the conclusions you wound up with. Is there any data backing that up? Right now, it just seems like cynicism.
Also, people are upset at Blizzard for ostensibly working under Chinese values, they're not that the Chinese firm that speaks for Blizzard wrote a very pro-China apology. I don't know where you're getting that idea from. Now people are mad that Blizzard are conveniently omitting mention of that Chinese statement in their apology here and just not really giving an honest acknowledgement of the situation.
Hello, Deimos? I would like to request the ability to embed images for this post in particular because there are simply no words in the English language that can be considered an adequate response to this horseshit.
And I get that you made a rule that gives you plausible deniability and an elastic cause to boot undesirables, but don't you fucking lie and say "this has nothing to with the views that he expressed" when you disappeared the VOD, had an official account apologize for offending China, and stayed quiet all week composing whatever you were going to say stateside in response to your actions. I can only hope that you would act with similar expediency in the future if someone has a "heated gamer moment" on stage, or goes on a rant about the SJeWs on an afterstream. I can't even do that, because I don't really hope for anything from you guys after this. You made a decision, and we'll see if it works out for you.
I'm not very familiar with this story, but from what I've gathered, it is nearly identical to the Daryl Morey situation that is going on with the NBA, so first I'll say the same thing I said about that situation. We shouldn't be surprised by any of this, especially after what happened to Colin Kaepernick in the NFL. Sports, and in this case E-sports, are just entertainment. The companies and organizations that produce this entertainment want to reach as many people as possible without pissing any of them off. Blizzard and the NBA could potentially lose billions of dollars from China in the wake of these comments, the same way the NFL and San Francisco 49ers were at risk to lose millions from the Kaepernick situation. Of course they will do anything to prevent that from happening. Ryen Russillo had a pretty good take on this on his podcast earlier this week, and while it's focused on the NBA, I encourage everyone to listen to it.
One noticeable difference between this situation and the NBA situation is the official response. Blizzard obviously saw the NBA's response and the backlash it recieved in China, which is why they're taking a harder position against the person who made the comments. They don't want to lose money like the NBA already has. It sucks that these companies wont take a stand in support of values that we think are important, but everyone has a price. It's easy to sit back and say that they should do the right thing when we aren't the ones risking shitloads of money.
I found this statement by a linguist on twitter interesting. She thinks the letter might have been written by a CN native (or at least in collaboration with).
I'm very skeptical of "internet detective work" like this but I kinda noticed it, too, and spelled out like this it comes off pretty weird indeed.
Same, but I'm fairly convinced J Allen Brack didn't write the statement. It's absolutely not his writing style and the weirdness does jump out to me and I'm not the only one it's jumped out to.
And if he didn't write it, it's good to ask who did.
Who would write a statement for the CEO of Blizzard on Chinese affairs? Either the CEO or its PR department. It's not unlikely some Chinese natives were involved in said PR department for this...
This all smells so fishy. . .
That response is disappointing. They had the entire week to respond and only did so at the last hour, hoping it would get buried going into the weekend.
My degree, and a good chunk of my professional career, has been in Public Relations. I can tell you with certainty that the best possible response from Blizzard (one that would have shown they were actually committed to their “values” and were truly repentant in hopes of saving their players) would have come the day after the incident with Blitzchung. Any PR firm worth their salt would have made the point to them that, regardless of their desires for financial expansion into China, if they didn’t head this event off quickly and decisively, it would continue to spiral and they’d risk losing both Chinese and global markets. The PR firm also would have told them that there wasn’t a way to keep both.
Make no mistake, Activision Blizzard chose China. Whether they were forced to or did so voluntarily doesn’t really matter. They chose China and we knew that when they decided to be silent. This “apology” just reinforces that.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes. I’m still waking up with coffee and shaking my head at their audacity.
Meanwhile, on Weibo
This is a serious case of pissing in our ears and telling us it’s raining.
This response is a joke. #boycottblizzard should keep going strong
Statement from Blitzchung
Unfortunately it reads as though Blizzard's intimidation is having the intended effect.
Yep. Also worth noting that they dropped it on Friday evening after 5 PM Pacific, which is pretty much the worst possible time to release news if you actually want it to get any attention. Sometimes people call this a "Friday news dump" when bad news is released late on Friday deliberately to avoid attention.
It just seems to be a superficial show of making a response, not really anything meaningful.
I read the first sentence of your comment before reading the press release. I was expecting a "sorry if you were offended" type non-apology but this isn't even trying to be that. If anything this statement is at least useful as an example of amoral and hypocritical corporate woke-ism: it drips with back-patting language speaking of inclusion and diversity and safety, but it's nothing more than a cynical attempt to use the language of social progress to advance their agenda and stifle criticism.
Especially telling is this:
Supporting pro-democracy protesters against a brutal Orwellian state is "divisive" now, is it? Well, I guess that's true enough. This sort of thing just really underlines the fact that no matter how much corporations wrap themselves in rainbow flags or have women-are-awesome ad campaigns, when it comes to taking a moral stand that isn't easy and profitable they're still the same as they've always been.
It's been said but does anyone believe Blizzard would have been so harsh if blitzchung had said something like "we need to do more to address climate change"? Is there actual utility to such a bald-faced lie, or is it just a corporate PR reflex?
Someone would have to state in a post-match interview about how he supports every woman's right to equality or wants gay people to be able to marry, then grin, stare into the camera and say "Okay Blizzard, ban me now."
Surprised no one else has mentioned this golden little one liner. Yeah, let's defend an oppressive regime that literally harvests the organs of live prisoners, and is actively committing genocide, and talk about creating inclusive environments. Don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable after all.
People aren't up in arms about this just because it's trendy, and they are not going after Blizzard with the goal of making game streams more political. The specifics of this situation are what have spurred people into action: how overboard and swift Blizzard's response was, how quickly (and intensely) they apologized to China, and the nature of the situation in China right now are all coming together as a perfect storm of rage. People are not railing against Blizzard as some kind of abstracted method of supporting the protestors directly—that's inane. Instead, it's forming more as an information campaign to show that the CCP cannot and should not have such power over companies and organizations in the West, and a Western company kowtowing like this is simply unacceptable.
After all, the NBA is getting hit with the same stuff too. That situation shares the same spirit and frustration as this Blizzard one. Their goals are similar, and it is not to make video game streams more political.
Brack's apology doesn't address the actual issue, and that's why the rage on Blizzard is continuing.
Yes, this would be sufficient. Why would I care about their stock value when judging them?
I'm sorry, but I don't think your estimate about how many people have what motivation is good enough to have the conclusions you wound up with. Is there any data backing that up? Right now, it just seems like cynicism.
Also, people are upset at Blizzard for ostensibly working under Chinese values, they're not that the Chinese firm that speaks for Blizzard wrote a very pro-China apology. I don't know where you're getting that idea from. Now people are mad that Blizzard are conveniently omitting mention of that Chinese statement in their apology here and just not really giving an honest acknowledgement of the situation.