Mitsubishi Ends Blizzard Sponsorship over Hong Kong Hearthstone Player Ban

[Tsing]

Mitsubishi Motors has bailed on Blizzard due to its "Free Hong Kong" gamer ban, which continues to haunt the publisher. The car giant ended its sponsorship just two days after Hearthstone player Chung Ng Wai was banned for expressing support for Hong Kong protesters. It'll be interesting to see whether other sponsors, such as a Coca-Cola and ASUS, follow suit.

Coca-Cola and the computer manufacturer ASUS, which sponsor the collegiate Hearthstone league, did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for the livestreaming company Twitch said “nothing has changed” about the company’s relationship to the collegiate league. Three collegiate players protested Blizzard’s treatment of Chung during an official broadcast and were later suspended for their conduct.

 

[Dudhunter]

Love it. I hope this doesn’t hurt the players or their winnings but it’s about time people hold these deeply hypocritical companies responsible.

 

[Grimlakin]

Burn it all! I mean yea down with the man. Seriously though this is more harmful to esports than it is to Activision. At least in the short term. If this turns Blizzcon into an under sold **** fest then it should really show on Blizzard/Activisions bottom line.

 

[MacLeod]

I generally want to keep politics out of gaming, even politics I agree with. However I tend to side against Blizzard on this one. I don't see why they simply couldn't have told the guy to drop it rather than ban him and take his winnings. So yeah, they kinda deserve this.