As some of you might have heard, Blizzard is currently facing a ton of heat after banning a Hearthstone professional player, Ng Wai Chung “blitzchung” from competing and taking away his winnings. This was following Ng’s win in which during the interview, he expressed his support for the Hong Kong protestors.
Blizzard claimed that this violated the company’s ToS, which led to many crying foul. It also led to many calling for a boycott of Blizzard and their games, and in some instances, some gamers had even tried to delete their accounts. Perhaps in a bid to prevent a mass exodus, it seems that Blizzard is making it difficult for gamers to delete their accounts.
According to multiple reports, it seems that several gamers are encountering issues when trying to delete their Blizzard accounts. This includes having their Email Code locked, and in one particular instance, one gamer claims that Blizzard had even requested for a photo of their government ID to prove themselves.
So now Blizzard have disabled ALL FOUR authentication methods to actively stop people from deleting their accounts. This is beyond disgusting. Spread awareness of this. #BoycottBlizzard pic.twitter.com/AyUiABgMXD
— WingedAsarath 🏳️⚧️ WingedAsarath@tech.lgbt (@WingedAsarath) October 9, 2019
While it is possible that Blizzard could be having some technical issues, it does seem to be rather coincidental. Blizzard’s recent actions have also drawn criticism not just from the community, but also US government officials who feel that as a US company, Blizzard should not be attempting to censor themselves or their players to appease the Chinese government.