Blizzard came out swinging at this year's BlizzCon, and while the show is now over, there are plenty of new announcements that fans of the developer have to look forward to. But as Blizzard President J Allen Brack took to the stage for some opening remarks, including a big apology from Blizzard, demonstrators gathered to protest Blizzard in the name of a pro-Hong Kong independence movement just a few hundred feet outside. This has been the norm for Blizzard for the past few weeks, as the company battles with the fallout of the handling of its ban against Hearthstone Pro Blitzchung for protesting China on-air.

Blizzard announcing Diablo 4, Overwatch 2, and the next World of Warcraft expansion was a good step to uniting a polarized fanbase. But, try as it might, Blizzard still has some time to go before it completely heals the wound, even if it got off to a decent start with BlizzCon. Online and in the real world, some are still criticizing the company's handling of the Blitzchung incident, with many claiming that Brack's apology was a non-statement. While Brack's statement did, at least, feel heartfelt, it didn't go so far as to directly address Blitzchung, and the company will not be reversing its decision to ban the pro player (thought it has previously reduced the timeframe).

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Throughout the show, chants of "Free Hong Kong!" could be heard, either as a vague background sound or from innocuous fans asking questions during panels. Blizzard, to its credit, handled the situation well, typically just remaining silent or brushing off the incidents. Still, it's evident that while Blizzard has taken a major step towards being accepted by the online community, it hasn't entirely won back fans.

So what would it take, beyond making big announcements, for Blizzard to heal the damage done to its public image? It does have some other examples to look to right now. Fallout 76 has ruffled quite a few feathers, with one fan going so far as to buy the Fallout First domain name and use it to bash Bethesda. And while Fallout 76 is a prime example of another negative reception, Blizzard working to please upset fans is evidence that the company at least has a plan to heal some of the damage, and it seems likely that BlizzCon was just the start.

It may take quite some convincing before fans are ready to completely forgive Blizzard. Many want the company to formally apologize to Blitzchung for the ban, take a public stance against China, and so on. From a business perspective, those are some pretty big asks. Apologizing to Blitzchung and reinstating his status could come back to haunt the company in the future if it needs to ban another player. Plus, while Blizzard has denied it is the case, China is a massive market, and being on the country's bad side could severely hurt Blizzard's profitability. That doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do, but there are a lot of factors at play for Blizzard.

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With that in mind, is there a way for Blizzard to make amends without harming its business? Probably not. That ship sailed the second Blizzard swung the hammer down on Blitzchung. The incident won't really ever go away, per se. It'll probably always pop up in list videos online because it's just the nature of how the internet operates now. There's also a slice of the internet that wouldn't forgive them under any circumstance, simply out of spite.

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Blizzard did mess up, the company has admitted that much. But it's important to remember that Blizzard has also pushed the games industry forward at many points in history. It's responsible for plenty of properties and innovations that were key in getting the industry to where it is today. That doesn't mean that what the company did isn't wrong, but Blizzard also hasn't become the giant evil gaming company that many are trying to make it out to be.

Blizzard will have to operate with extreme caution for the next year or so, at least until some of its new games release. The new Blizzcon announcements and apology are a big step to winning back fans, but the company just isn't all the way there yet, and not for lack of trying. The new announcements weren't a reaction to upset fans like some have assumed, but they did come at a good time for Blizzard. The company still has some time before it wins back all of its fans, but it's off to a good start.

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