
Harvard Library adds Devotion, the game removed from Steam for insulting Xi Jinping
The title from Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games was added to the collection of Harvard-Yenching Library
Developer Red Candle Games recently posted on Facebook and Twitter that two of its games – Devotion and Detention – have been added to the Harvard-Yenching Library at the request of Harvard University. The library is known for its “rare and special collections” and has one of the largest collections of East Asian material in the Western world, according to Harvard.

The Easter egg immediately triggered a backlash in China. Thousands of Chinese gamers review-bombed the game on Steam, the world’s biggest online PC game store. Steam subsequently removed the game from the platform for a quality assurance check.
In its Facebook post thanking the library and the professors involved, Red Candle Games acknowledged that the past year has been tough, saying the current status of the studio isn’t ideal.
Before Devotion was engulfed in controversy, it was considered one of the best horror games of 2019 and commanded a huge following both inside and outside of China. Soon after the game was pulled, the studio said that it didn’t plan to rerelease the game anytime soon.
Devotion tells the story of a Taiwanese family in the 1980s that resorts to cultish practices under unfortunate circumstances. It was met with rave reviews for having immersive visuals, engaging gameplay and clever references to elements from traditional Chinese culture.
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