In a statement on his blog, Brian Kibler has announced that he will no longer be casting the Hearthstone Grandmasters finals at this year's BlizzCon.
After Blizzard banned Blitzchung from Grandmasters and removed his prize earnings for a political statement made on the weekend during Grandmasters, Brian Kibler has dropped out of casting the grand finals. He states he is no longer comfortable casting the event and will not be casting Grandmasters in the future unless something changes.
This high-profile disagreement comes after American University held up a "Free Hong Kong" sign during the Hearthstone Collegiate tournament, resulting in disabled cameras for the rest of the matches (stream clip), and someone at Blizzard covered up the "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters" portions of the Orc Statue on Blizzard's Irvine Campus.
Read on for the relevant part of Brian's statement, with the full text available here.
Quote From Brian Kibler I won’t pretend to understand either the intricacies of the geopolitical situation in China and Hong Kong or the full extent of Blizzard’s business interests there, but to me this penalty feels like it is deeply rooted in both. The heavy-handedness of it feels like someone insisted that Blizzard make an example of Blitzchung, not only to discourage others from similar acts in the future but also to appease those upset by the outburst itself.
That kind of appeasement is simply not something I can in good conscience be associated with. When I learned about the ruling, I reached out to Blizzard and informed them that I no longer feel comfortable casting the Grandmasters finals at BlizzCon. I will not be a smiling face on camera that tacitly endorses this decision. Unless something changes, I will have no involvement in Grandmasters moving forward.
However, I want to make clear that not everyone involved in GM has this luxury. Do not take your anger out on the other casters, or streamers, or employees of Blizzard. This is not the kind of decision that comes from the rank and file. Most likely they’re just as angry as you are. I know I am.
Comments
Repect.
Great words and a good heart. Brain deserves all the positive comments he's getting, which also speaks for the community which i also applaud.
Great statement by kibbles. I hope more employees and contractors come out against Blizzard's decision, not to mention consumers. Blizzard wanted to send a message to chill speech, but instead we can send them the message that acting like the proxy arm of the chinese government is not a good look.
Goddamit Kibler, don't make me like you even more than I already do!
Dragon daddy got dragon sized balls. Nice to see he won't just ignore Blizz's decision on this.
Mad respect to Brian. Nothing to add there.
The only thing that is annoying are those crybabies on reddit who think he ( and now Kripp aswell) didn’t went far enough, since they still play HS ergo supporting China.... Like demanding them what to play isn’t also a cut in their personal freedom. Also as if any of these whiners would burn everything they own that China was involved with and live in the woods from mother nature.
Even if i think that sometimes "famous" people use big stages for political/environmental statements (like Leonardo DiCaprio after winning the oscar) that simply not have a place on said stage this situation could have been handled way better!
And i think Kibler found very good words and is an awesome man! i always liked him and this statement made him even more likeable :)
Well done Brian!
Way to go Brian! For my small humble part I'm going back to Free To Play. No more purchases of packs or hero portraits or anything like that.
Massive respect towards Kibler. I hope more HS streamers will join him and give their statement (like Kripp earlier today)
Well not even sure what loses Blizzard more money, losing China or losing support almost everywhere else... I mean sure they have ties in China, but I think Blizzard own actions ruined their "image" mentioned in the rules more than Blitzchung's actions...
Gotta love Kibler for this. Respect!
H'up the Kibler bai
Blizzard's behaviour is simply fascist. It violates human rights.
I can only applaud for Brian Kibler. Respect the man who shows his solidarity.
Cheers dude!
Anyone else confused what the big deal? Maybe I am just apathetic but I don't get why everyone has their panties in a bunch. Can someone seriously explain it to me? I might be misunderstanding something.
China is currently making international moves to silence critics of their handling of the Hong Kong protests. They are using international spending power to exert their will over people who don't live in their country, which is bad. Blizzard basically bent the knee to China because Blizzard's Chinese investors didn't like what Blitzchung said on air. Kibler is stepping down as a move of solidarity with Blitzchung essentially and he is the first high profile caster/content creator that has made a move like this.
I see thank you for the clarification!
Mad respect to kibler
Well, I wasn't a fan of Kibler, but he gained my utmost respect now. Wow, what a standup human being.
I respected Brian Kibler as a Magic/HS player, but now I respect him as a person as well. Damn, he has balls!
hell yeah