Blizzard suspends college gamers from competitive play after they display "Free Hong Kong" poster

Blizzard has suspended Casey Chambers, Corwin Dark, and TJammer -- American University Hearthstone team players -- for six months after the trio displayed a "Free Hong Kong, Boycott Blizz" sign in a streamed competition.

The players were following in the footsteps of Blitzchung, a Taiwanese Hearthstone champ who was stripped of his title and denied his winnings after he expressed solidarity with Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement during a tournament.

It's just another way in which Blizzard's own customers are exerting pressure on the company, and the company is clearly feeling the heat.

"We knew exactly what we were doing," said Chambers to me over Discord this morning. "No regrets."

As teased in a piece with VICE Games last week, this incident resulted in Chambers starting to play God's Unchained, a Hearthstone competitor that openly criticized Blizzard after taking action against Blitzchung. Chambers said the team behind God's Unchained reached out after the three players took their public stand, saying they "support" them and wouldn't have a problem if, in the future, they decided to talk about the Hong Kong protests in public.

Blizzard Bans Three College 'Hearthstone' Protesters For Six Months [Patrick Klepek/Vice]

(via The Verge)