GOG removed Devotion to appease China
The fall of CD Projekt Red is a bit of an unprecedented moment in the history of gaming. Within the span of a week, they went from one of the most loved developers in the world, to one of the most despised. The company seems hell bent though on ruining their reputation, as they’ve made another controversial move that has seen a Taiwanese indie horror game de-listed from GOG.
The game in question, Devotion, has players controlling Du Feng Yu, a screenwriter who’s daughter suddenly falls ill with a mysterious illness. Feng Yu then becomes involved with a cult who promises they can cure her, beginning his descent into madness. The game has been described as a walking simulator comparable to P.T. and What Remains of Edith Finch. So far it has received positive reviews from critics, with IGN calling it “a fantastic psychological horror game that’s short, concise, and well-paced from start to finish.”
The problems though deal with a throwaway Easter Egg. A talisman decorating a wall in one of the game’s locations says “Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh” in Chinese seal script. The popular meme among Chinese netizens jokes about how the communist dictator bares a striking resemblance to Disney’s chubby, honey loving bear.
The game was review bombed by communist party loyalists on Steam. The developer, Red Candle Games responded by patching out the offending image. However, pressure continued and the game was later removed by Valve. Which we would like to point out is also an incredibly dishonourable move on their part.
Red Candle eventually planned to release the game on GOG instead. On December 16th, they said it would officially go up for sale two days later. GOG, who is owned by CD Projekt Red, later came out with a statement saying they were also removing the title “after receiving many messages from gamers.”
Now, by “gamers”, what GOG really means is the Chinese Communist Party, as I can guarantee no gamers actually complained. The statement has garnered harsh criticism from the gaming community, upset that a title would be blacklisted for purely political motives.
CD Projekt Red is the latest western publisher to cave to Chinese pressure to remove content that offends the authoritarian regime. The issue is being magnified by their other controversies, which has led to harsh criticism of the company’s board and upper management.
From a broader standpoint, this move is extremely concerning. The fact that a foreign government, with an atrocious human rights record, is now determining what games you can and cannot play, should worry every gamer. And it’s not just games that the Chinese Communist Party is using its influence to censor. Anything critical of the regime is at risk of getting scrubbed by greedy Western corporations desperate to entre the lucrative market.
The United States government made a positive move earlier this year, when they began investigating American video game companies with ties to CCP affiliated conglomerates. However, with free speech as a whole in a dire state on this side of the Pacific, it really is time to put our foot down on the violations the basic human right to free expression. Money be damned.
