No ‘feminist propaganda’? Censorship row hits Chinese game Black Myth: Wukong
- Streamers reported getting a note from the game’s co-publisher warning them to avoid ‘feminist propaganda’, ‘politics’ and other topics
The co-publisher of hit Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong this week sent guidelines to foreign streamers urging them against discussing politically touchy topics like Covid-19 or feminism, players said.
Released globally on Tuesday, Black Myth rapidly became one of the most successful Chinese-made games ever, as measured by the number of players on gaming platform Steam.
It combines the classic 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West with cutting-edge graphics as gamers step into the shoes of a Monkey King to do battle with demons in a mythical world.
But in the run up to the game’s release, video streamers reported receiving a document from co-publishers Hero Games warning them to avoid topics including “feminist propaganda” or “politics” when they received a passkey to play the game, an email exchange showed.
Gamers were also warned against any reference to “Covid-19”, “isolation” or “quarantine” – likely a reference to China’s pandemic-era policies that placed millions under arbitrary lockdowns and sparked civil unrest.