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Post by Woody Alien on Mar 7, 2019 12:30:26 GMT -5
The game "Devotion" by Red Candle Games (the makers of "Detention", to which this game is sort of a spiritual sequel) was removed by Steam just a few days after it came out, February 19, because of a hidden meme that mocked China's president. But there's a bit more than that.
The game gained a good success among Chinese players and streamers, until someone found out among the game's files the image of a poster that represented a talisman: on it there was written "Ji Xinping Winnie the Pooh", because apparently people think that the two look similar and he is very offended by that comparison, to the point of censoring every mention of the character. Anyway some people didn't think much about that, but others were very offended (since the history between China and Taiwan is still contentious) and started first seeing and reporting various instances of anti-Chinese elements that weren't really there (or at least I read that they were made-up) and then started review-bombing the game. Devotion fell from 95% positive reviews to 40% in a single day, and removing the offending image and apologizing wasn't enough for Red Candle; the backlash continued and so they were forced to remove the game and every mention of it from Steam, plus every video of it on Youtube. This mostly because according to the users the game's producer has a pro-Taiwan political view on his social media and they think he used the game as a tool to spread anti-Chinese ideas among those Chinese who liked his efforts, so they're trying to get it banned apparently... ironically their earlier game Detention was about a regime and all the lies, violence and misinformation that came with it.
I'm sad that I didn't but the game as soon as it came out since it's no more available for the moment, and all this situation is kinda worrying because it's yet another example of a situation that is blown out of proportion thanks to social media and political propaganda. What is going to happen next to the game and Red Candle?
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on Mar 7, 2019 12:38:20 GMT -5
Maybe they will change their name to Blue Candle?
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cacao
Junior Member
Posts: 69
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Post by cacao on Mar 7, 2019 16:59:09 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure Devotion is going to come back. The devs have said they're going to do a quality check on the game and remove the meme but they'll re-release it. I guess they're waiting for the controversy to die down a bit too.
This whole controversy has been exhausting. There were probably better ways that Chinese players could have explained their objections to the game. I'm annoyed by how many people feel qualified to comment but don't know anything about the developer or Chinese and Taiwanese history/culture. Not to mention all the people who have decided this is a great excuse to be racist, the few threads in English on the Steam community can get virulent.
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Post by Woody Alien on May 30, 2019 16:13:48 GMT -5
Almost three months have passed and nothing has changed, and still nobody seems to care. I feel sad for those guys, and disappointed in the fact that I didn't buy the game as soon as it came out, now I'm not going to play it ever...
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Post by toei on May 30, 2019 17:34:09 GMT -5
Almost three months have passed and nothing has changed, and still nobody seems to care. I feel sad for those guys, and disappointed in the fact that I didn't buy the game as soon as it came out, now I'm not going to play it ever... I think it's messed up, but it's nothing compared to all the crazy and scary things the Chinese government is doing, and nobody in the West cares about any of it either, so... |
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Post by psygnosis8 on May 30, 2019 21:27:15 GMT -5
I’m surprised the devs haven’t all been assasinated.
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Post by retr0gamer on May 31, 2019 3:40:03 GMT -5
Would love to play the game as well. Might just have to pirate it but would rather my money went to the devs.
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Post by X-pert74 on May 31, 2019 5:27:19 GMT -5
Yeah, it's a really frustrating situation all around; I'm having doubts that Devotion will ever be sold again, which makes me sad, as it's reportedly a good game. Xi Jinping is such an insecure dipshit.
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Post by toei on May 31, 2019 12:46:39 GMT -5
I'm annoyed by how many people feel qualified to comment but don't know anything about the developer or Chinese and Taiwanese history/culture. This is basically my stance. No idea why people always feel the need to butt in everywhere. I think it's messed up, but it's nothing compared to all the crazy and scary things the American government is doing, and nobody in China cares about any of it either, so... Yep, definitely true. 1. Commenting on a message board does not equal butting in. Furthermore, not everything is relative or dependent on cultural context. Intrusive Government censorship is wrong, and it's the least of their wrongs. China is a world power. What they do might eventually influence what goes on elsewhere as well. 2. Yes, we know the US government sucks. What's your point supposed to be? Also, for the record, neither I nor Woody Alien, who started this thread, are Americans. |
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Post by Woody Alien on May 31, 2019 14:25:00 GMT -5
I think it's messed up, but it's nothing compared to all the crazy and scary things the Chinese government is doing, and nobody in the West cares about any of it either, so... Of course this is nothing compared to human rights violations and other stuff of this kind, but since this is a video game forum, it's better to discuss this here rather than other things.
basically they contacted after a lot of difficulty Tiff Liu, the PR director of Red Candle, and she couldn't say anything at all about the matter and that they don't know when the game will be released again, more or less confirming that it has been shelved. Not only that but the article linked to her LinkedIn profile and it is no longer available... Also, unlike the older articles, this one has zero comments, showing how nobody gives a shit anymore about this controversy, despite people loudly complaining about much stupider stuff related to games. And the game's site is depressingly empty as usual...
I find it darkly ironic since it more or less ties in with some themes of the game itself, i.e. cult of personality and mob mentality.
China is not North Korea. Yet...
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Post by X-pert74 on May 31, 2019 23:22:48 GMT -5
Yeah, the US is pretty fucked. But insinuating that that means no one from there can criticize the Chinese government's actions, feels like whataboutism.
It seriously upsets me so much that this game is still not available again. (within the scope of gaming news, anyways) This is one of the most depressing things I've heard this year. ugh.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Jun 1, 2019 8:57:55 GMT -5
If anyone is really interested, a little research showed me that there are still active torrents sharing the game, probably more alive than many others for the very fucked-up reason of its retirement. Unfortunately, right now it's effectively the only way to get it.
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Post by toei on Jun 1, 2019 23:43:44 GMT -5
1. Commenting on a message board does not equal butting in. Furthermore, not everything is relative or dependent on cultural context. Intrusive Government censorship is wrong, and it's the least of their wrongs. China is a world power. What they do might eventually influence what goes on elsewhere as well. 2. Yes, we know the US government sucks. What's your point supposed to be? Also, for the record, neither I nor Woody Alien, who started this thread, are Americans. This was a general statement and doesn't really cover (or barely at best) forum comments that no relevant person cares about/sees in the first place. It starts with social media like Twitter and ends in direct diplomatic (in whatever form) meddling. I just pointed out that the point you made is actually pointless.
I guess you tried to, anyway. Nice effort. |
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Post by Woody Alien on Jul 16, 2019 9:56:15 GMT -5
Yesterday Red Candle released an apology on Twitter, saying that they have no plans to re-release the game on Steam "in the near term", basically saying that we'll probably never see it again.
There's still a possibility, of course, but since their Chinese publisher Indievent lost their business license, it's really hard. At least the gaming sites gave a decent coverage to this apology, so the incident hasn't been forgotten like I thought before.
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Post by Woody Alien on Dec 21, 2020 12:28:38 GMT -5
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