Protesters Gather at BlizzCon 2019 Over Blizzard’s Hong Kong Controversy

Blizzard’s annual BlizzCon event is officially underway now that the pre-show events have begun on Friday, but before the company’s largest announcements could even be shared, the expected protests have already begun. People gathered in and around Blizzard’s convention with signs and other gear showing support for Hong Kong following Blizzard’s controversy surrounding its decision to ban a player who spoke out in support of Hong Kong during a live interview.

Evidence of these protests were shared by those in attendance at BlizzCon as people saw others filter in with their pro-Hong Kong gear and other forms of protest. People wore and distributed shirts that advocated for their protest and had signs and other imagery showing the Overwatch character, Mei, in support of Hong Kong as well. People also dressed as Winnie the Pooh and were admitted into the event, their outfits referencing the controversy over people using the iconic animated character to mock Chinese president Xi Jinping.

You can see several examples of these types of protests below courtesy of videos and images shared on Twitter before the main event of BlizzCon began. From the looks of it and judging from the reactions online, the protests appear to be peaceful so far.

The show’s opening ceremony will be streamed online while the other panels will be viewable by those in attendance and by those who purchased a digital ticket. It remains to be seen what sorts of protests, if any, will take place during these parts of the event.

Blizzard is expected to have six mystery announcements from its event at a minimum, so it shouldn’t be too long before players find out what those games will be. One of those was just revealed to be Diablo 4.