- Ban on competitor who expressed support for protests triggered storm of criticism amid growing concerns about Chinese influence
- Riot warns League of Legends e-sports players to avoid ‘sensitive issues’ while ESL staff are warned not ‘actively engage’ in debate over Hong Kong
At least two major gaming companies have warned employees and staff not to discuss political issues after the fallout from American game publisher Blizzard Entertainment's decision to suspend an e-sports player for expressing support for anti-government protests in Hong Kong.
US game developer Riot Games and German-based e-sports company ESL issued the guidance to staff after Blizzard came under fire from gamers, politicians and its own employees for punishing the gamer Ng Wai-chung, also known as "Blitzchung".
Ahead of the League of Legends world championship group games in Berlin, Riot released a statement on Saturday calling for e-sports broadcasters and players to focus on "the game, the sport, and the players" and keep their personal views on "sensitive issues", including political and religious ones, separate.
John Needham, global head of League of Legends e-sports, said "casters", or gaming commentators, and professional players were reminded to "refrain from discussing any of these topics on air."
"Our decision also reflects that we have Riot employees and fans in regions where there has been (or there is a risk of) political and/or social unrest, including places like Hong Kong," he said in the statement.
"We believe we have a responsibility to do our best to ensure that statements or actions on our official platforms (intended or not) do not escalate politically sensitive situations."
Meanwhile, German-based e-sports company ESL told its employees in an internal Slack message to not "actively engage in the discussion" with regards to"the situation in Hong Kong, China".
ESL said on Monday that the message from the company's co-founder and co-chief executive Ralf Reichert was a reminder about long-standing general social media politics, and that "we do not use ESL's brand or platform for personal political statements".
The company said: "ESL's team members are of course free to both harbour and express personal opinions on private social media accounts."
The warnings issued by Riot, which is owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, and ESL, which announced a joint venture with Chinese live-streaming platform Huya in September, follows the furore generated by the Blizzard decision.
Over the weekend, the gaming company reversed a decision to strip Ng of his prize money for repeating a protest slogan and reduced his ban from one year to six months.
Two "casters" on the broadcast were also suspended rather than fired.
Blizzard president J Allen Brack said in an open letter on Saturday that the decisions were not related to the specific views expressed and the company's activities in China, where it has a long-term partnership with publisher NetEase.
However, the episode has fuelled criticism in the US about the influence of the vast Chinese market on American companies, particularly after backlash in China to the National Basketball Association over a tweet by Houston Rockets team general manager Daryl Morey in support of anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.
Yes, absolutely. That will never happen on my watch as the founder, CEO, and controlling shareholder.
" Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) October 9, 2019
Beijing has repeatedly painted the protests in Hong Kong as a movement to split the city from the country, although the demonstrators' key demands focused on the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill, accountability for police violence and universal suffrage.
But Epic Games, the American gaming company behind Fortnite, said last week that it would affirm the rights of its players and creators to speak out about politics and human rights.
Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder and chief executive, wrote on Twitter that he would not punish players or sever ties with anyone for publicly supporting protesters in Hong Kong, despite the roughly 40 per cent stake that Tencent has in the company.
He said such a situation would "never happen on my watch, as the founder, CEO, and controlling shareholder."
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