Nintendo Offers Refunds for Overwatch on Switch as Blizzard Cancels Promotional Event

Despite the popularity of Blizzard’s multiplayer first-person shooter Overwatch, the game’s arrival on the Nintendo Switch (NSW) after three years of the console’s existence was met with little fanfare as the recent controversy surrounding Blizzard’s relationship with China has led to Nintendo offering refunds for the game and Blizzard cancelling a promotional Nintendo launch event.

As Blizzard’s relationship with China was brought to the surface of public discourse, due to the company banning Hearthstone player Chung “blitzchung” Ng Wai from competitive play for demonstrating his support of the Hong Kong protestors in a post-game interview, some players who had pre-ordered Overwatch became concerned that their pre-orders, completed before Blizzard’s recent actions, would support Blizzard and their decisions.

Related: Activision Blizzard Bans Hearthstone Grandmasters Winner Blitzchung After Supporting Hong Kong Protests

In an effort to cease their support of Blizzard, players reached out to Nintendo seeking assistance, as Nintendo holds a firm “All Sales Are Final” policy regarding digital sales.

In a rare reversal of policy, Twitter user GetVent reported Nintendo was offering refunds for Overwatch, though in eShop credit rather than in a direct refund to the initial form of payment, for the game as the situation was a “unique case.”

Related: World of Warcraft Vanilla Team Lead Mark Kern Explains Why He Joined #BoycottBlizzard

On the same day, October 14th, Nintendo announced through their official Twitter account that a previously scheduled and promoted Overwatch event, to be held at the NintendoNYC store and featuring appearances by Overwatch voice actors, was abruptly cancelled by Blizzard:

Related: Professional Hearthstone Player Blitzchung Responds to Blizzard’s Decisions; Will Keep Support for Hong Kong to “Personal Platforms”

Curiously, when the game arrived on the Nintendo Switch on October 15th, players noticed that Nintendo failed to promote the game in any capacity on their official Twitter page, in a possible attempt to distance themselves from Blizzards controversies:

Related: Blizzard Issues Six-Month Ban to College Hearthstone Players for Protesting for Hong Kong on Stream

As of writing, Blizzard has neither commented publicly on Nintendo’s policy exemption or given a reason for the cancellation of the NintendoNYC event.

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