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Video gaming
AbacusCulture

The film for Taiwanese horror game Detention finally has a release date

Detention is getting attention again after the game’s developer disappeared after insulting Chinese President Xi Jinping

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That candle might look harmless, but the things it helps you see definitely aren’t. (Picture: DetentionTheMovie via Facebook)
Josh Ye
This article originally appeared on ABACUS
Imagine Silent Hill but set in 1960s Taiwan under martial law. This is essentially the premise for Taiwanese horror game Detention. The gruesome, spine-chilling game is now being made into a live-action movie, slated for release this fall.
The side-scrolling mystery game was an instant bestseller when it launched back in 2017. An announcement for a film adaptation quickly followed. In the intervening year and a half, little information has been disclosed about the project. Now the studio is finally releasing a teaser trailer along with a series of posters online, as announced on the film’s Facebook page. The posters confirm the movie’s September 20 release date in Taiwan.
That candle might look harmless, but the things it helps you see definitely aren’t. (Picture: DetentionTheMovie via Facebook)
That candle might look harmless, but the things it helps you see definitely aren’t. (Picture: DetentionTheMovie via Facebook)
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This new update on the movie is at least some positive news for a property owned by game developer Red Candle Games, which has disappeared from the public eye. The company was embroiled in controversy earlier this year over its second horror game, Devotion. The game was initially even more popular than Detention, but it was pulled from the Steam store when it was found to have contained a hidden insult aimed at Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The insult, which mixes Hakka and Mandarin written in unusual fonts, basically said “Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh moron.” (Winnie the Pooh is often used as a caricature for Xi Jinping).

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Patriotic Chinese gamers launched a wave of review bombs on Devotion’s Steam page. The game has remained unavailable on Steam since it was taken down in February.

Since the controversy around Devotion, Red Candle Games has faced censorship in China. Discussions and news related to the company, including news about the movie’s new trailer, are largely blocked behind the Great Firewall.

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