Hit new Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong has sparked controversy after gaming influencers who were given early access were told not to mention news and politics, Covid-19 or “feminist propaganda” while publicly discussing the game.
The game, which launched last week, is China’s first “triple-A” rated game — an industry term meaning a big-budget blockbuster game — and is based on the famous 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West.
Within three days, more than 10 million copies had been sold worldwide, according to the game’s developers. Science of the game.
But amid its success, a debate arose over a list of topics to avoid that was sent to influencers and content creators along with access to a pre-release build of the game. The document, which was quickly shared on social media, listed issues to avoid during the game’s livestream.
DO NOT insult other influencers or players.
DO NOT use any offensive language/humor.
DO NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that incites negative discourse.
DO NOT use keywords like “quarantine,” “isolation,” or “Covid-19.”
DO NOT discuss content related to China’s gaming industry policies, opinions, news, etc.
It was unclear what the directive meant by “feminist propaganda,” but reports about the directive noted that Game Science employees had faced accusations of sexist and inappropriate behavior, most notably in reports by gaming website IGN in November.
Game Science and Hero Games, a co-publisher that reportedly issued the directives, have been contacted for comment.
There was heated discussion among fans online about the directive to gaming influencers, with many players linking it to IGN’s reporting.
On popular gaming channels on YouTube, some also celebrated the directive as a rejection of what they saw as “conscience” in gaming, and highlighted some reviews that had criticized the game for a lack of diversity.
Rolling Stone reported that the directives – which were not sent to traditional publications and reviewers – were not accompanied by confidentiality agreements and were not legally enforceable. In one widely viewed livestream, one user appeared to mock the directives, titling their stream “Covid-19 Isolation Taiwan (It’s a Real Country) Feminist Propaganda,” while commentators littered the chat with politically sensitive terms, including references to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
It was not immediately clear to what extent the list was issued to appease China’s strict censorship rules. People can face harsh punishment for speaking publicly about sensitive topics or criticizing the ruling Communist Party. Some streamers told gaming outlet Aftermath that such directives from companies were not unusual, including requests not to mention Covid.
“The usual language of ‘no politics, please don’t talk about current events (covid), etc.’ has always been part of the contracts,” the Twitch streamer said. Ben Cassel she told Aftermath. However, she added: “I do a lot of sponsored streams and I’ve never seen anything about ‘feminism’ on any of them. That’s new. And definitely very strange.”
The game has been a global hit, reaching more than 3 million concurrent players across all platforms, including 2 million concurrent players on PC gaming platform Steam, in its first week, the second-highest rate ever. On its first day, it was the most-watched game on Chinese platforms, and in Singapore some workers were given time off to play it, according to the Straits Times.
Chinese authorities and media have praised the game’s success, with headlines saying it “generates pride, reduces prejudice” and “sparks interest in Chinese culture.”
In recent days, Chinese state media have also responded to reports of the controversy, accusing Western media of using the game to attack China.
“Their strategy of attacking the game is the same old Western tactic: politicizing every Chinese achievement, even in the field of gaming,” wrote the nationalist tabloid Global Times.
The article said the success of Black Myth had triggered the “radar of some anti-China forces” and accused the BBC, which reported on the directives, of “wrongly accusing China of censorship to dampen international perception of China,” but did not elaborate or refute the allegations.