This week's launch of Black Myth: Wukong has brought further controversy to the game with the leak of a document sent t…
  • atro_city@fedia.io
    1422·
    3 months ago

    What is “feminist propaganda” and what would COVID-19 have anything to do with the game? What would either of those have to do with the game? Isn’t it based on the legend of the monkey king? Are they afraid they’ll make a meme of him spreading COVID to kill his enemies or something?

    • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.socialEnglish
      732·
      3 months ago

      In the conspiracy theories groups China is a hot topic, and I believe this is them telling influencers (who they give a free copy) to stick to the game instead of talking about the country they happen to live in. And I would assume if people stuck to the game few of these topics would be relevant.

      Now if an influencer had an issue with say, allegations misogyny at the studio, I would expect them to -

      1. not accept the game from the studio

      2. maybe create content on why they refused the offer of a free game and things they think would need to change to allow them to work with the studio in the future.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        5·
        3 months ago

        You would have thought that by now they would have realized that explicitly banning people from talking about a subject is basically a method to guarantee that they do.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      565·
      3 months ago

      It’s a Chinese game developer. These are the things they’re sensitive to. COVID started in China and I guess feminist is a big fucking red flag for women in China?

      Hehe, red flag, China…

      • nocturne@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        282·
        3 months ago

        It’s a Chinese game developer. These are the things they’re sensitive to. COVID started in China and I guess feminist is a big fucking red flag for women in China?

        The Black Myth: Wukong sexism controversy stems from employee reports that developers at Game Science have been making sexist comments for many years, and there’s a suggestion the company doesn’t want women playing its games.

        https://dotesports.com/black-myth-wukong/news/black-myth-wukong-developer-controversy-explained

        • ThunderWhiskers@lemmy.worldEnglish
          56·
          3 months ago

          I wonder if any of this has been corroborated. I feel more conflicted about this kind of stuff recently because for every one asshole saying awful shit there are hundreds of other people that poured years of their life into making a game like this.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        6·
        3 months ago

        It’s Chinese developer so I wouldn’t be that surprised that their sexist it just seems to be a very common viewpoint in China.

        They obviously know it’s unacceptable because they don’t want to be brought up on it. But rather than improved they’re just going to ban discussion of it or at least try to it won’t work of course. We’re talking about it after all.

  • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
    12910·
    3 months ago

    The dev has a storied past[1] of sexism and misogyny, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. The COVID stuff is amusing but unsurprising considering it’s a Chinese studio.

    1. 1 ↩︎

    • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.socialEnglish
      365·
      3 months ago

      Reading through that made me feel gross. It does seem to be acknowledged by women in China as a cultural issue (as well as globally online).

      Sexism is, and continues to be, a global problem. But the difference, as both Zhong and Monica F. pointed out, is that the Chinese government and overall cultural attitudes continue to actively discourage women and their allies from fighting back. There’s no one telling harassers “no.”

    • turmacar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      172·
      3 months ago

      This feels like the second round of this going around as the AI articles / lazy sites pick it up.

      It’s a doc ‘sent’ to one guy who had 12 followers on medium before this started blowing up. It was edited after it was sent out to be the real marketing email of the company instead of a gmail address. The doc is still owned by that gmail account, which isn’t typically how companies operate.

      I guess they’re getting their viral moment so good for them for generating content?

  • style99@lemm.eeEnglish
    11119·
    3 months ago

    Funny how quickly free speech drops dead whenever right-wing snowflakes get involved.

    • Murvel@lemm.eeEnglish
      58·
      3 months ago

      Right wing Chinese communists you mean? Good one…

      • style99@lemm.eeEnglish
        62·
        3 months ago

        What’s funny is anyone thinking Chinese government has anything to do with communism.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
          5·
          3 months ago

          It’s just fascism at this point mascarading as communism. Rather like Russia in that regard.

      • cecinestpasunbot@lemmy.mlEnglish
        11·
        3 months ago

        China has plenty of right wingers and social conservatives living there. They just can’t organize for their beliefs outside of the existing political structures.

  • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8617·
    3 months ago

    Hahahaha, wow, what a bunch of wet noodles. If you don’t want negative discourse, maybe don’t be misogynistic. Or don’t publish your work in countries where free speech and personal freedoms are more abundant. No one is forcing you to publish here, so please keep your demands in your pants. Pffft, I was really interested in this game, now it’s such an easy pass!

    • batcheck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      3 months ago

      Out of curiosity, since I’m out of the loop, what is the misogynistic discourse around the game or studio? Is it based on themes of the books/mythology the game is based on? Or is it some other thing the devs went too far with eastern culture wise?

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
        144·
        3 months ago

        I read some articles from 2020 that touched on the culture @ Game Science, but it doesn’t even really matter. It’s just the way they single out stuff that feels really put of touch, pretty (ignorant) boomer attitude. I’ve only heard the word “feminist propaganda” from folks who are misogynistic, it’s not something I associate with caring about inequality. Can you imagine being a woman influencer that got this message? I would think 3 times before partnering up with a party that gave me this dos and don’t list.

        It’s probably something that can be attributed to cultural differences, but that doesn’t mean that much to me. You move in a culture, but you are still responsible for you actions and words.

        • batcheck@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          3 months ago

          Thank you. I mainly wanted to know what the talking points are so I can have effective conversations with the people around. This one semi popped out of nowhere for me and I felt I missed something.

          Agreed, the term “feminist propaganda” alone here is enough to make me question the studio/publisher leadership group.

          @Chee_Koala, I’ve read your other comment on this post and I agree with you. Going to pass on the game. It’s the reality of today. If we want things to improve we have to vote with our democratic right to vote if we have it or we vote with our money. This type of topic pops up a lot in media, big tech and most other large companies that somewhat dominate an industry. There are enough options out there where we can’t always make the perfect moral decision, but we can at least try to choose on the lesser of many evils in our shopping and media consumption based on the information we have.

      • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
        245·
        3 months ago

        Thanks a lot, I can imagine! It’s moot for me, sadly. Google maps is amazing too but I’m not on board with choices they are making so, can’t use that either. There’s enough games to take my mind of of missing this title. Have fun though!

  • Rentlar@lemmy.caEnglish
    522·
    3 months ago

    The guidelines are also likely in place to avoid mention of previous reports of misogyny at the studio. Posts from Game Science CEO Féng Jì including sexualised and misogynistic language were reported on in 2020, while IGN also reported on the studio’s history with sexism.

    Lol, a Streisand effect here.

  • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
    451·
    3 months ago

    However, it’s clear Game Science, through Hero Games, is keen to control the narrative around Black Myth: Wukong to avoid negative coverage and ensure focus is on the game itself.

    Given that this is the first I’ve heard of this game and I know nothing about the game itself, I feel they’ve shot themselves in the foot a little, eh?

    • Alimentar@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      3 months ago

      Nah for a while now, this was highly anticipated within the gaming community. Journalists have covered allegations and controversies but honestly no one really cared. People wanted a good game and they got one. Politics or not, their steam review is 96% at overwhelmingly positive.

  • RunawayFixer@lemmy.worldEnglish
    373·
    3 months ago

    I was wondering what “feminist propaganda” was and apparently it’s talking about misogyny.

    Another forbidden topic seemed to be targeted at criticism of misogyny at Game Science. The company has come under fire for lewd and sexist comments attributed in media reports to its founders as well as recruiting materials from 2015 replete with sexual innuendos. Those original job postings and comments were deleted, and the company has not commented. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/20/world/asia/chinese-videogame-wukong-censorship.html

    But this anti feminism attitude is not limited to this 1 gaming company, but government policy under Xi Jinping’s authoritarian rule: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/feminism-in-china-internet-crackdown-erase-womens-voices/100165360

    • hornedfiend@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      81·
      3 months ago

      Thanks for sharing this. I wasn’t going to buy this game,but now I’m convinced I won’t. Will wait for empress to turn denuvo intro their bitch.

  • Etterra@lemmy.worldEnglish
    284·
    3 months ago

    Well now I wish I was an influencer so that I could get paid for giving China the middle finger.

  • TimLovesTech (AuDHD)(he/him)@badatbeing.socialEnglish
    2312·
    3 months ago

    For anyone not clicking thru:

    In full, the don’ts are:

    • Do NOT insult other influencers or players.
    • Do NOT use any offensive language/humour.
    • Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishisation, 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.

    I see this as them wanting influencers to focus on their game, instead of using the game as a platform to wade into these other topics that focus on the country they happen to live in. And this being an election year in the US ,and the Right having spread wild conspiracy theories about China for years now, them not wanting any of that stuff to overshadow their art doesn’t seem all that crazy of a take. Basically they are saying they want influencers to talk about the game and to leave politics to /c/politics.

    Oh and this is of course only sent to influencers, so just people they are giving the game to for free. The rest of the world (including influencers that buy their own copy) are of course free to do whatever they are legally allowed to in their jurisdiction.

    Edit - I just want to add an edit after reading the IGN article someone linked above, that I am not siding with or defending any of the gross things coming from people working at this studio. And I guess this would come down to if people can separate the art from the artist, which I personally struggle with in many instances.