Blizzard Apologizes for Blizzcon Video

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher is a member of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse, and also happens to play a lot of World of Warcraft. As such, it was pretty cool to have him show up at Blizzcon and play with in-house Blizzard band Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain. To introduce the man, Blizzard took a known video of him professing his love for the game, while bleeping out his cursing.

The controversy is that some of those curses were specifically offensive to the homosexual community, and though they were censored, even playing the video at Blizzcon was interpreted as a tacit approval of Fisher's words. Blizzard President Mike Morhaime apologized for this on the official forms today, saying:

"Dear members of the Blizzard community, I have read your feedback and comments about this year’s BlizzCon, and I have also read the feedback to the apology from Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain. I’d like to respond to some of your feedback here.

As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at BlizzCon.

It was shortsighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form. The language used in the original version, including the slurs and use of sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period. We realize now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games. Doing so was an error in judgment, and we regret it.

The bottom line is we deeply apologize for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We’re proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself.

As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology.

– Mike Morhaime President, Blizzard Entertainment"

Though bringing a close to the issue, this apology is that it seems to throw Fisher under the bus, who though having attended as an honored guest is now having his speech branded as "not acceptable."