Hearthstone professional player Ng ‘Blitzchung’ Wai Chung has offered an official statement following Blizzard’s change of heart about their decision to ban him from competitive play. This happens shortly after Blizzard retracted on their decision to ban him from competitive play and reduce his ‘cooldown’ from one year to six months. Blizzard also vowed to give him back his $10000 winnings from Hearthstone Grand Masters which had been confiscated.
[ä¸/ENG] Personal statement, view on Blizzard's decision and future planning
Read: https://t.co/2YgO8XhTFq
— Ng Wai Chung (@blitzchungHS) October 12, 2019
Blitzchung states that he is ‘grateful’ for being pardoned by Blizzard. He also feels grateful to the community who had created the uproar which led to Blizzard backtracking from their previous course of action. He openly mentions that Hearthstone ‘changed the way he lived’ and that he was happy to get back his Grand Master prize money from Blizzard. One of the heated questions which media and the community wanted to know – whether Blitzchung will be participating in future Hearthstone tournaments or not – has not been answered, as he himself mentions that he is unsure about what the future holds for him. Despite expressing his happiness at the reduction of his ban and on getting his prize money, he states that he wanted Blizzard to reconsider the penalty about the two casters responsible for the disastrous interview. (The official statement can be read here).
Like Blizzard’s ‘apology’ to the community, Blitzchung’s statement also avoids certain points which leave a lingering bad taste in the mouth. The manner of writing, including the mention of the words ‘I will be more careful on that and express my opinions or show my support to Hong Kong on my personal platforms’, seems to be written more out of fear than out of legit concern. It seems that the apology was written with someone holding a gun to his head, as is also evident from the paragraph ‘Hearthstone changed my the way I live, I really love this community. Blessing to all the players out there, and blessing to Blizzard.’ When he wore the mask during the interview, some crackdown on his actions was expected, and it seems that it might have escalated to something beyond his career in professional Hearthstone.
