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> Blizzard should not pick a side. Not picking a side is siding with the status quo, which is Chinese oppression in Hong Kong.
by calcifer 7y ago
> Blizzard should not pick a side.
Not picking a side is siding with the status quo, which is Chinese oppression in Hong Kong.
- orisho 7y agoNot picking a side is not allowing political discussion, no matter who you (or they) perceive to be right. Coincidentally, this is also the choice that makes most sense to a corporation which stands to lose a lot from picking a side. Players will likely respond to sensationalist reporting of this case, but forget about it soon after, while the Chinese government is not gonna go easy on Blizzard picking the other side.
- x220 7y agoBut nearly every large company in America engages in political discussion when they talk about diversity, feminism, and inclusion. I think that's a good thing, but it's clearly not the case that these companies shy away from making progressive statements.
- mlang23 7y agoAll they are doing is saying things which a certain audience wants to hear. Nobody really cares about inclusion or diversity. They just claim to do so, because in this day and age, they will benefit from doing so.
- chii 7y agoThat player has forced blizzard to appear as though they endorsed the protesters. Being protesters for freedom, they ironically did not respect another (unrelated) entity's freedom to choose.
- bmarquez 7y agoIt doesn't cost large companies any money to make feel-good progressive political statements on social media. However when it conflicts with their pocketbook, they stay quiet or internally oppose them (example: Zuckerberg trashing Warren for antitrust and privacy issues).
- ryanlol 7y agoThere shouldn't be room for such cowardice to exist in this world.
- Isinlor 7y agoIn other words they do pick a side - they side with Chinese government, because the communist party has a leverage on them. But we have a leverage too! If we manage to damage their brand and profit, they may decide that censorship is not to their benefit. We need to be loud and clear - communism will not be tolerated. Otherwise, it will start to creep trough Blizzard and many other companies, and limit our freedoms too.
- vkou 7y agoWhich is exactly how sports leagues operate, be they FIFA, the Olympic Committee, the NFL, the NBA... If you expect them to be the high water mark of social justice, you're going to be deeply disappointed. (Meanwhile, various tech firms have been criticized for picking a side, or allegedly picking a side in social conflicts over the past few years... Damned if you do, damned if you don't, apparently.)
- ajuc 7y agoBlizzard is much more directly supported by money from its customers, it's very easy to boycott online games provider.
- x220 7y agoI think there's a big difference between making a statement that American Democrats would like and making a statement that you don't like a genocidal authoritarian regime doing genocidal authoritarian regime things.
- vkou 7y agoI think to an American organization, it's far more relevant to resist fascism, bigotry, and violation of the rights of <Pick any of the following groups, that currently feel under attack: Women, religious and ethnic minorities, trans persons, native persons> in America, then to worry about how China administers Hong Kong. But, ah, that former would be 'political', and 'picking a side', and 'controversial', because you see, ~half the country thinks (rightly or wrongly) that those things aren't a serious problem. I leave considering what ~half of mainland China thinks (rightly or wrongly) about Hong Kong, and what we should do about widely held, but unjust political opinions as an exercise to the reader.
- x220 7y agoBlizzard is an international company with a ton of customers outside the US
- thefj 7y ago