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Mark Kern @Grummz Team Lead for Vanilla World of Warcraft. Creator of Em-8ER, Firefall. Producer of Diablo 2, Starcraft, Broodwar, and more. Game Designer, CEO, Writer Oct. 09, 2019 3 min read This hurts. But until Blizzard reverses their decision on @blitzchungHS I am giving up playing Classic WoW, which I helped make and helped convince Blizzard to relaunch. There will be no Mark of Kern guild after all. Let me explain why I am #BoycottBlizzard I am ethnically Chinese. I was born in Taiwan and I lived in Hong Kong for a time. I have done buisiness with China for many years, with serveral gaming companies there So I think I have a valid perspective here, having been a Team Lead at Blizzard and having grown up in Asia I have watched China slowly take over as the dominant investing force in gaming and movies over the years. It's a shame US companies never believed as strongly as China and Asia in investing in games, but this allowed China to have unprecedented influence over our media. Chinese game companies have grown huge not just because of market size, but because the government subsidizes them. They get free land, free offices, and huge infusions of cash This cash was and is used to do expand and buy up stakes in US gaming companies. I've seen firsthand the corruption of Chinese gaming companies, and I was removed from a company I founded (after Blizzard) for refusing to take a 2 million dollar kickback bribe to take an investment from China. This is the first time I've ever spoken pubically about it. I've also seen how American company reps in China have been offered similar bribes to get licenses for large AAA titles. Not everyone refused like I did. Chinese companies tried to ruin my career with planted press stories. Money is often paid for favorable press in China and some of that money flows here to the US as well Unfortunately, money talks. China has succeeded in infiltrating all levels of tech, gaming and more Unfortunately, US and European companies are loath to take risks and invest in game companies legally as much as China was. China remained one of the few places mid tier studios could get funding. So again, China influence grew. I'm sure this is the same for movies as well But now we are in a situation where unlimited Communist money dictates our American values. We censor our games for China, we censor our movies for China Now, game companies are silencing voices for freedom and democracy China is dictating that the world be authoritarian. Of all the companies in the world, Blizzard is the LAST company I ever expected to give in to China's demands. Blizzard was always about "gamer first" and "don't be greedy." At least, it was when I was there It's one thing to keep politics out of games, which I am still a proponent of doing. It's another to unfairly and harshly punish voices that speak out against corruption, against abuses of human rights, and freedom I take a huge risk by saying this. China monitors all social media and I know this means that we will probably never get an investment from China for my new MMO, and probably never get a license to operate there But enough is enough. I stand with Hong Kong, and I oppose Blizzard's obvious and laughably transparent fear of China It's time for Blizzard to grow the spine it used to have, and to do what's right for gamers once again. Gamers, rise up And yes, this means I will be refusing any deal for Epic exclusivity. The money comes from Tencent. Em8ER will never be an Epic game store exclusive. This might mean we never make a dime, but more is at stake now than just games. A line has to be drawn, and I'm drawing it now.

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Mark Kern speaks out


Uploaded by Blue Sun Deluxe Oct 09, 2019 at 01:08PM EDT

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BIZZARD Ruins reputation in America to maintain good relationship with Chinese government so the Chinese will keep buying your microtransaction laden games ERTAINHEN BIZARD China introduces stricter TERTAINHENT gaming regulations to curb gaming addiction and excessive spending on microtransactions
ANAHEIM, CA—In a surprise announcement at BlizzCon over the weekend, Blizzard confirmed they've added President Xi to the Overwatch roster of heroes. Blizzard has denied that the move was made to appease China. "Here he is, the hero you've all been waiting for, the great, flawless leader... President! Xi! Jinping!" Blizzard President J. Allen Brack declared in a speech. There were several boos from the crowd, but these quickly disappeared after the sounds of muffled sniper fire. "We know we've handled this Hong Kong thing poorly, and this is our way to apologize to you, the fans," he added. "You can play as the great hero President Xi, he whom we all love, adore, and cherish." President Xi will be invulnerable in the game, of course, and will have overpowered abilities, such as the "Secret Police" ability, which lets him immediately arrest all the other players, detain them indefinitely, and execute them if desired. He will also have the "Puppet String" ability where he can make other players do whatever he wants by dangling cash in front of them. Blizzard will also be banning anyone who doesn't select Xi while playing the game and reporting them to Chinese authorities.
The Overwatch heroes when they get called to save Hong Kong
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Pink Dark Boy
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Pink Dark Boy

I saw someone on 4chan saying this and i completely agree: I hope to god Blizzard announces something like a Warcraft or Overwatch gacha game, that way they can piss off the remaining 3% of their fanbase who's not yet furious at them.
Honestly, Blizzcon is coming up shortly. Before now they had a difficult task in trying to make people excited for their projects, given all the controversy from last year, now, though? I'll be surprised if they don't get it worse this year than before, regardless of what they show.

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Nedhitis
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Nedhitis

A lot of people have been saying this about the gaming industry for years now, about how they censor and manipulate people and media around them for money, even if they have to get into political territory for it. I am actually impressed it took people this long to realize at large that this is a thing happening. Blizzard is the biggest example of this, but not the only one, and actions like these are the necessary steps towards avoiding an industry-wide disaster.

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Uploaded Oct 09, 2019 at 01:08PM EDT

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2019 Blizzard Boycott

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blizzard boycott, mark kern, china, games industry

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