Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments

China is clearly up to no good, but I can't shake the feeling that there would be something off about allowing political soapboxing in apolitical events like this. Should people have a set list of political ideas to propagate at the end of every interview? "My deck was not strong enough in the end-game. And also legalize assault rifles and support the Kurds".

I dunno.

In sports it has generally been frowned upon to politicize competitions, somewhat broadly supported by both organizers and competitors. Whether this is something to strive for or not is a separate debate, but it is how it has been.

Personally, I believe that support has shifted in computer gaming as compared to sports, and will continue to shift.

In sports we use things like spears, shoes, bicycles, up to racing cars. But none of them relies on a narrative or story, except by the story around the sport itself. Few - if any - of the sports are part of culture the way computer games already are, and we see no stopping of this progression anytime soon.

This explicit cultural relevance taken together with the fact that China, and several other countries for that matter, already has made gaming political by requiring games to not feature elements that oppose their regime, sensibilities, or culture, makes a compelling argument that competitors must be allowed a greater freedom of speech, even in the context of competitions.

Not allowing the expression of political opinions is a political act inspired by political opinion with political consequences.

There is no such thing as "apolitical", it is code for "supporting the status quo and agreeing with those currently holding power".

But should political messaging always be allowed in all forums though? Is it not inappropriate in some cases?

Would you be as supportive if the message had been "protect the second amendment, support the NRA" or something?