The protest scheduled for BlizzCon's first day is all set to move forward. Its scheduled for tomorrow, November 1, and is organized by Fight for the Future through its Gamers for Freedom project.
This protest is in support of Blizzard's action against Hearthstone player Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung. Initially, Blizzard suspended blitzchung for one year and removed his winnings due to his action during a post-match interview where he showed his support for the Hong Kong protests. Blizzard has since reinstated blitzchung's winnings and lowered the suspension to six months. You can read more about that here.
Tomorrow's protest officially begins at 3:00 PM EDT and runs until 6:00 PM EDT. However, before the protest starts, the Hong Kong Forum Los Angeles is going to have representatives hand out t-shirts to protesters and BlizzCon attendees starting at 10:00 AM EDT. The shirts have been donated by Freedom Hong Kong in order to "“raise awareness of the series of Hong Kong protests."
If you're attending BlizzCon, these are things you can expect with the protests:
- Starting at 3:00 PM EDT, Gamers for Freedom is going to organize along Convention Center Way, with participants holding signs and handing out flyers to attendes. They are going to be joined by Zephronica and YX, both of whom have gone viral on social media for their cosplay of Overwatch's Mei.
- At 4:00 PM EDT, Gamers for Freedom is then going to have a cosplay contest which is to be hosted by comedian Ron Placone. Anyone with a costume can be part of the contest, with the 10 best costumes chosen based on crowd reaction. Those selected to be part of the 10 best get a one-year subscription to a VPN service for free courtesy of Private Internet Access.
- By 5:00 PM EDT, members of the protest are going to speak to the crowd. Featured speakers are Casey Chambers and Torin Wright. These two are part of the American University Hearthstone team that was banned by Blizzard from competition allegedly for political statements made during a recent Hearthstone tournament livestream.
In an interview with GameSpot, Fight for the Future Product Director Dayton Young said that they understand game developers and publishers have a responsibility to moderate content on their respective platforms, particularly on issues related to threats of violence and other dangrous behaviors. However, he added that "silencing gamers who speak up about issues that affect their freedom makes us all less safe from oppression and institutional abuse."
If you're interested in knowing more about these protest, but are unable to attend, you can email Gamers for Freedom here.
