Unless you live under a rock you've no doubt heard about the ban of BlitzChung at the Hearthstone Grand Master's tournament earlier this week. Although Blizzard finally broke their silence, in my opinion they've only made the situation worse. Granted, they shortened BlitzChung's ban, agreed to pay out his winnings and re-instated the shoutcasters but all of the affected are still facing six month suspensions. In the statement J. Allen Brack repeatedly stated the importance of what the tournament platform was meant to be for and I don't disagree. The Hearthstone Grand Master's is Blizzard's Platform regardless of the number of players that are invited to share it and they should respect that. But their actions in response to BlitzChung's blatant violation of the rules were over reaching to put it mildly and it's just as fair to say that those actions were made to satisfy one audience (or I dare say, one man. The Chinese Prime Minister) and not necessarily reflect the views and customs of the country Blizzard was founded in.
Regardless of how you feel about the outcome what has been done is done and it's extremely unlikely to change any time soon if ever. We must now make uncomfortable decisions about how we are to press on and what we will do in the future to hold other game companies to account if they make similar decisions. Which brings me to the elephant in the room:
Politics are supposed to stay out of video games but this is only the latest incident of politics directly affecting the video game industry.
This is a video I made after an eSports tournament suffered a mass shooting firmly drawing gaming into the gun control spotlight. Loot boxes as well are starting to be scrutinized very heavily by law makers all over the globe and some governments have already taken legal action. Don't forget, the ESRB was created when censorship was front and center in U.S. politics and video games were placed firmly in the crosshairs. Like it or not, video games aren't just just some fringe culture that can avoid politics. Video games ARE politics.
I mean think about it, Watchdongs: Legion which comes out next year is described as "taking place in a post-Brexit London." Spec Ops: the Line explored the fuzzy lines of legality and morality during warfare and how that affects the horrifying decisions soldiers have to make just to survive. And how many games have you running around as a rebellious protagonist fighting against an oppressive regime?
When I first started playing Elite: Dangerous someone posted a woman-positive message on the forums. The idea was make Elite: Dangerous a female friendly community while it was still fresh and new. Not only was the thread blasted by the gamers as "bringing politics" into the forums but the actions taken by the members were equivalent to censorship. I myself got private messages demanding that I not make "one of those threads" and stop posting. Blizzard's reaction, as disgusting as it was, was at least partially informed by this same attitude that politics have no place in video games. In fact their reaction was not too dissimilar to what the Elite Dangerous forum members tried to do to me. The great irony here is that by trying to create a fun and inclusive space they have become an autocratic entity and it's only a matter of time before this becomes the norm.
Like or not, accept it or not video games and politics go hand in hand and this is nothing new. We need to stop kidding ourselves and wake up to the realities of the world we live in or stories like BlitzChung's will not only keep repeating themselves but get even worse.