October has been a very tough month for Blizzard. It all started when Hong Kong Hearthstone pro player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai was suspended after issuing pro-democracy statements in a post-match interview. His punishment has been reduced to only six months of suspension and Blizzard has promised to give Chung his prize money after initially rescinding it.

The interview that started it all. Screenshot taken from Inven Global’s tweet.

A recent report from The Daily Beast tells us that Mitsubishi Motors Taiwan cancelled its sponsorship of the Hearthstone Grandmasters Asia-Pacific tournament, the one that Chung was playing in. This information comes from Erica Rasch, a spokesperson for Mitsubishi.

Speaking to Polygon, a Mitsubishi representative confirmed that the sponsorship was ended on 9 October 2019 which was only two days after Chung was suspended. Ever since then, Mitsubishi’s logo no longer appears on the broadcast of the tournament’s livestream and the arrangement of the toy cars modeled after Mitsubishi cars are nowhere to be found on the broadcasters’ desk.

Notice the lack of Mitsubishi-ness. Image from Polygon.

With BlizzCon 2019 happening this weekend, there’s a lot of excitement and nervousness within Blizzard and the community. Some parties have expressed interest in staging protests at the event while others are outright boycotting it. Coupled together with the possibility of major reveals such as Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, it’s definitely going to be an event worth your attention.