Overwatch‘s Mei is being used as a mouthpiece for Hong Kong freedom protestors as a result of Blizzard’s decision to suspend Hearthstone pro player Ng Wai ‘blitzchung’ Chung.
Users have taken to the Hong Kong and Blizzard subreddits to use Mei in both photoshopped and original artwork, all using the character as an advocate for democracy in the region. You can see some examples below.
It would be a shame if Mei became a symbol for freedom from Blizzard
If we are gonna do it, we are gonna do it big: Mei becomes the icon of Hong Kong revolution! from HongKong
While Mei’s Overwatch backstory states she’s from Xi’an in China, that’s not stopping fans from co-opting her as a supporter of Hong Kong’s freedom.
These pieces of Mei artwork have been joined by a Hearthstone team that’s displayed a “free Hong Kong” banner after a match alongside Blizzard employees making a statement of their own. An image on Twitter states that employees at the company’s headquarters have covered up plaques with values reading “Think Globally” and “Every Voice Matters” after Blizzard’s recent actions.
Not everyone at Blizzard agrees with what happened.
Both the "Think Globally" and "Every Voice Matters" values have been covered up by incensed employees this morning. pic.twitter.com/I7nAYUes6Q
— Kevin Hovdestad (@lackofrealism) October 8, 2019
Overwatch is currently available on Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4. It heads to Switch next week.
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