blitzchung releases a statement regarding Blizzards change of heart

On Monday, Hearthstone developer Blizzard Entertainment imposed some harsh penalties on Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung for breaking one of its rules. The penalties levelled on him led to a lot of backlash from fans, corporate rivals and even politicians, which gave the developer reason to review their decision.

Blizzard then decided to reduce the severity of its punishment, but fans have wondered what blitzchung feels about this. In answer, blitzchung made a statement of his own, addressing the situation and what he thinks about the leniency he’s been shown.

In a TwitLonger post, he expressed his appreciation for Blizzard’s change of heart and acknowledged his fault in the matter. “In the future, I will be more careful on that and express my opinions or show my support to Hong Kong on my personal platforms,” he said. blitzchung then proceeded to share his thoughts on Blizzard's new penalty.

Regarding the developer’s decision to reinstate his tournament prizing, it comes as no surprise that he was pleased. In this matter, Blizzard did a complete 180 which will now see blitzchung receive the prize money he won from the Grandmasters tournament. As for his suspension, which changed from 12 months to 6, he felt it was still a bit harsh. However, blitzchung was still glad that he would be able to compete in the Hearthstone pro circuit. The shoutcasters that were present onstream with him when he violated Blizzard’s rules were also shown some leniency by receiving the same 6-month suspension. blitzchung pleaded on their behalf for even more leniency.

Another question many have asked is whether blitzchung would even be willing to return to competitive Hearthstone after his ban. To this, he replied, ‘’Honestly, I have no idea on that yet. Since my next tournament is very likely to be the grandmaster tournament of next season, it's probably at least a few months from now on. I will take this time to relax myself to decide if I am staying in competitive hearthstone scene or not.”

In protest of Blizzard’s initial punishment, many gamers uninstalled Battle.net, some even going as far as deleting their accounts or save files. Since it looks like the situation has finally begun to die down, outraged fans will have to make the same decision that blitzchung has on his plate. Will they go back to playing the games they enjoy or boycott them forever.