The popularity of online games among mainland youngsters has inspired a government youth organisation to launch a game about the anti-Japanese war as a way to teach them about history.
The China Youth Online Association has teamed up with a Shenzhen-based game developer, PowerNet Technology, to create a game where players can act as Chinese fighters protecting their country from the Japanese.
'The goal of the game is to protect our own people, to protect our family and to beat the enemy,' said the association's Shawn Chen, who is involved in the project.
The game has no English title yet, but a literal translation from Chinese is Anti-Japan Online.
It focuses on the Eighth Route Army, the communist force that fought the Japanese during the eight-year war. Players have to complete certain tasks and missions, free their fellow fighters and use weapons, such as grenades, guns and knives, to defeat the enemy.
The content of the game has not been finalised, with the developers still conducting pilot tests. They are planning a launch date in December or January, still timely following the 60th anniversary of the end of the war last month.