Blizzard banned the mention of ‘Azov’ in its games
American video game developer and publisher Blizzard, best known for the Diablo and Warcraft series, banned the name ‘Azov’. Attention was drawn to this on the ‘Ukrainian Geek’ Facebook page.
Blizzard has renamed the Ukrainian clan ‘Azov’ in the game Diablo Immortal, citing an article in the in-game code of conduct. It states that the name given by the player must be appropriate and not offensive. And any name that violates the standards will be changed, and additional restrictions may be imposed on the account.
The user wrote a support complaint trying to find out why the clan was renamed, since it is the historical name of places adjacent to the Sea of Azov.
Technical support stated that the word ‘Azov’ resembles the name of the ‘Azov’ regiment.
‘As the name Azov is reminiscent of the name of the Azov Regiment, which has ’caused controversy due to its early and alleged continuing links to far-right groups and neo-Nazi ideology, its use of controversial Nazi-related symbolism and claims that members groups were involved in torture and war crimes. We will not allow anything like this in our games,’ Blizzard wrote.
The player’s attempts to explain that even the world map has the name Azov were not taken into account.
‘For me personally, this company no longer exists and my attitude towards it is sharply negative. This is an official insult to Ukraine, as far as I’m concerned,’ they said on Facebook.
We will remind, earlier it was reported that Microsoft is buying game developer Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
It should be noted that the stated rationale for banning the name Azov strangely coincides with Russian propaganda and repeats Russian narratives about the reasons for their attack on Ukraine.
We should also note that the Azov regiment is only a unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was created according to NATO standards, which scares the Russians very much because this regiment effectively protects Ukraine and Ukrainians.
