HomeNewsBlack Myth: Wukong
Hero Games doc also advises against mentioning Covid or Chinese games industry policy
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Game Science
The email outlines various “Do’s and Don’ts” for people streaming or making other types of content about Black Myth: Wukong. Under “Do’s”, we find only “enjoy the game!” Under “Don’ts”, we find the below:
• Do NOT insult other influencers or players.
• Do NOT use any offensive language/humor.
• Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse.
• Do NOT use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘COVID-19’.
• Do NOT discuss content related to China’s game industry policies, opinions, news, etc.
The request not to focus on Covid, meanwhile, seems to reflect the Chinese government’s track record forcensoring discussion of the disease and preventative measures.
I know little about the internal workings of Chinese game publishing or the Chinese gaming community, but yesterday Lu-Hai Liang published an interesting editorial forNikkeiin which he explores Black Myth: Wukong’s importance to the regional games industry and to Chinese players. It’s a prestigious, “triple-A” release from a country that, in Liang’s analysis, lacks a track record for “premium” single player offerings due to government regulation of consoles, and is associated overseas with free-to-play gacha mechanics like those found inGenshin Impact- to say nothing of sinophobic reactions to the international investments of Chinese publishers like Tencent.
In Liang’s view, Wukong’s evident quality and global popularity have made it attractive to Chinese nationalists, and this has at times mushroomed into jingoistic dog-piling of the game’s critics - especially in the wake of IGN’s report into sexism at Game Science. “There is an edge to the online response and the attachment Chinese players feel for Black Myth: Wukong can tip into nationalistic pride,” Liang writes.
I’ll let you know if I hear anything back from the developers. In the meantime, Hero Games have just announced CrisisX, the tale of a devastating infestation in a quiet US coastal town. It’ll be on show at Gamescom this week - I wonder if they’ll ask booth attendees to avoid mentioning quarantines in their coverage.
Ina press release about CrisisX, Hero Games’s CEO Daniel Wu also describes the company’s ambition to expand their publishing operations into western markets. “We are deeply invested in the global markets, and with CrisisX, we aim to take Hero Games to the next level,” he wrote. “We feel that now is the time to introduce ourselves and our products to a wider audience.”
