Blizzard Panders To Chinese Government
It is typical of most mediums of gaming to keep politics separate from the hobby. The golden rule of thumb was torn apart last week during a stream. Blizzard’s response to it was not all that palatable. BlizzCon 2018 would serve as a cynical prologue to the controversies of last week. It reminded us of its sudden and intensely enthusiastic partnership with China. The result of which would let down many, as Diablo morphed to mobile, against the wishes of many.
Pro e-sports player, Blitzchung was disproportionately punished by Blizzard for expressing certain political views
Just last week Blizzard displayed a kind of policy schizophrenia, proving it has not revised its policies in the wake of this partnership. Certain events involving pro e-sports players and streams have brought questions of free speech back to the fore. Another country’s management of free speech is spilling out in the wider world and somehow, it’s managed to do it through video games.
This admittedly awesome statue outside Blizzard’s offices would have likely overlooked the recent walkouts
As a result, many at Blizzard are themselves unhappy. Staff refuse to be associated with company. Since the time of writing, walkouts have been orchestrated and some have even left the company altogether. Even faithful Blizzard fans attempted to deleted their accounts, only to find no such thing was possible. In light of the tumultuous times between Hong Kong and the rest of China, even things as trivial as Battletags can’t have certain words in them…
Sony’s Ongoing Success Isn’t Good News For Everyone
Sony’s ongoing successes led to some bad news for employees in the UK
Recently, Blizzard reported record success, having made more money than ever before. Their response to this was to lay off hundreds of staff. After the news coming out of Sony last week, we think we’re beginning to see a trend. On the very same day Sony formally announced the PlayStation 5, dozens of staff in the UK were laid off. Incidentally, the next generation of PlayStation will land holiday season 2020.
Blasphemous – Don’t Show Your Mom
The last week in gaming has been a little doom and gloom. Why not top it all off with the very doomy and gloomy Blasphemous? This generation has spurted forth some great pixel art titles. Dead Cells to name a prime example. While Dead Cells managed a fair bit of media attention, Blasphemous appears to be an equally capable side scrolling fighter that runs the risk of going under the radar. Metroidvania style, hack’n’slash, gothic and not shy of the gore, our review delves deep into Blasphemous to help you make that all important purchase.
