Gamers reconsider anticipated title Black Myth: Wukong following sexually explicit comments from Game Science CEO
This article originally appeared in Inkstone, a daily digest of China-focused stories.
A series of vulgar remarks from the founder of a Chinese gaming company has ignited a debate about the persistent mistreatment of female gamers and sparked calls for a boycott.
On the day his company released a trailer for a much-anticipated new game, Feng Ji said it had attracted so many job applicants that he had been "licked so much that [he] could no longer get erected."
In another post about the trailer, Feng said, "Now I feel pressure in my pants!"
The trailer for the game, called Black Myth: Wukong, generated buzz in the gaming community with breathtaking animations. Feng's posts may jeopardise the commercial success of the game, which has no release date yet.
The comments sparked a debate about gender disparity in the gaming world. Some players vowed to boycott the game due to the vulgarity, while others have mocked those who felt offended as too "politically correct".
"As long as the game is good, these comments are no big deal. He didn't even use curse words. Why are people so sensitive?" said one commentator on Weibo.
But another commentator said, "Over the years, I have played many foreign console games but this is the first time I felt ostracised. It hurts even more as it comes from a game that I so looked forward to playing."
Game Science has not responded to requests for comment.
In recent years, more women have joined a gaming community dominated by male players. The number of female gamers in China grew 3.5% in 2019 to 300 million, according to an industry report by CGIGC, a government agency. Today, female players make up 46% of the country's gamers.
Xia Changshen, 28, an avid gamer since 2011, said that male players routinely jeered at her or made sexual jokes when they heard her voice over the microphone.
Hong Kong's first all-female professional eSports team, named PandaCute Team, takes part in a League of Legends tournament in 2017. Photo: David Wong alt=Hong Kong's first all-female professional eSports team, named PandaCute Team, takes part in a League of Legends tournament in 2017. Photo: David Wong
She recalled an episode on August 16 when three male players joked about female breasts in a group chat after Xia chided an underperforming teammate.
"I demanded them to apologise after the game wrapped up, and they just laughed at it," said Xia.
"How women are treated in the gaming world reflects how women are treated in the larger society," she said. "Only when society becomes more equal will female players be treated more as a peer in the gaming world."
Xia, a graduate student, refused to use her real name as her school prohibits students from speaking to reporters outside mainland China.
Critics of the company also objected to the cartoons it used for recruiting in 2015, including one image that depicted a man holding a can of Red Bull over his genitals. These posts have since been deleted.
Game Science, once a little-known game developer, made a splash with the release of the trailer for the role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong on August 20. In a week, the trailer has been viewed at least 28 million times globally, topping the trending chart on YouTube's gaming category.
The 13-minute trailer shows recorded gameplay of a plot where players can become the Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, as the protagonist in the 16th-century Chinese fantasy novel Journey to the West.
Many gamers have lauded the game's stunning visuals, but some have called the statements from the CEO a deal-breaker.
Heather Lee, 33, a public relations professional based in Beijing and a gamer of more than two decades, said that she found the company's hiring post "lewd, dirty and vulgar" and indicative of a sexist company culture.
"I won't waste my money on the game unless the game is unprecedentedly brilliant, or the company apologises wholeheartedly," said Lee.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2020 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
