Blizzard Cancels Overwatch Launch Event In Wake Of Protests

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Blizzard has cancelled a launch event for Overwatch

Please be aware that the previously announced Overwatch launch event scheduled for Wednesday, 10/16 at NintendoNYC has been cancelled by Blizzard. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. — Nintendo NY (@NintendoNYC) October 15, 2019

The Blizzard China Controversy Explained 12 IMAGES

The free event was scheduled to take place tomorrow on October 16 at New York's Nintendo Store. The first 150 fans to sign up were promised meet-and-greets with voice actors from the game, and the only requirement to attend was an active Nintendo account.To see how Overwatch runs on the Switch, check out 8 minutes of gameplay in the video above.However, a week later Nintendo has put out a statement apologising that it will no longer go ahead as the event has been "cancelled by Blizzard."So far there's been no official word on exactly why the plug was pulled, nor has Blizzard made its own statement. However, the original tweet promoting the event was flooded by #BoycottBlizzard and #StandWithHongKokng hashtags, which began following the company's decision to punish a Hearthstone player for publicly supporting the Hong Kong protests.The international backlash to Blizzard was swift and protesters in Hong Kong even started using Overwatch hero Mei as an unofficial mascot, cosplaying as her and making signs with her famous voice lines like "the world is worth fighting for." In the end, Blizzard reinstated Ng Wai "Blitzchung" Chung's prize winnings, and reduced his ban. But with the tide of popular opinion still against Blizzard, the company may have decided to cancel its New York event in order to avoid any further controversy.In the meantime, Blizzard has made some other unusual decisions as it gears up to launch Overwatch on Switch. The physical copy of the game won't contain a cartridge, but a download code. It means the boxed version of the game is little more than a set piece and won't be a way to play the game on multiple Switch consoles.

Alysia Judge is a freelance writer and presenter. Chat to her on Twitter @alysiajudge.