A Launch Event for Overwatch’s Switch Port Is No Longer Happening
A previously scheduled launch event in Nintendo’s New York City store for the Overwatch Switch port has been cancelled by Blizzard Entertainment. The event was supposed to celebrate Overwatch’s launch on Switch and the first 150 people who signed up for the event were going to be able to meet the game’s voice actors.
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
“Please be aware that the previously announced Overwatch launch event scheduled for Wednesday, 10/16 at NintendoNYC has been cancelled by Blizzard,” the store’s official Twitter account announced recently. “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.”
Blizzard has been dealing with a lot of controversy lately due to banning a professional Hearthstone player for making a pro-Hong Kong comment in a post-game interview. As a result, Blizzard received widespread online backlash from both its community and the larger gaming community.
In response to this backlash, Blizzard decided last week to try and make amends. The player and interview’s two broadcasters had initially received a one year ban from official Hearthstone esports events but those bans got reduced to six months. Also, the player’s previously withdrawn tournament winnings were returned to him.
It is possible that this recent event cancellation could be an attempt by Blizzard to prevent drama at a public event for a major title like Overwatch but it hasn’t been officially said that this is the case.
The Overwatch Switch port is out now.