Black Myth Wukong review guidelines ban “feminist propaganda”
Creators of the Black Myth: Wukong Games aren't messing with journalists. Chinese studio Game Science's Soulslike action RPG (their first game, which is hard to believe when you see how good it looks) will be released tomorrow, August 20, on PlayStation 5 and PC — and on Xbox Series X|S at a later date — so, naturally, writers and YouTube content creators want advance copies to play so they can review it at launch. And co-publisher Hero Games is helping them out by sending Steam keys to reviewers in emails from their marketing team. However, the keys were accompanied by a Google document asking recipients to agree to a series of “do's and don'ts” in their reviews. Most are generic, asking reviewers not to insult other content creators or use offensive language. But they also ask reviewers to “not include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that promotes negative discussion” or “use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘COVID-19.'” In addition, there is a request to “not discuss content related to China’s game industry policy, opinions, news, etc.”
OK, I'm really surprised here, but I've confirmed with a US manufacturer I trust that the Black Myth Wukong guideline email is real. A detailed conversation with the company associated with the email resulted in receiving a real code for the game. This is no random Google document pic.twitter.com/UzIgBWuiE8
— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) August 18, 2024
I don't need to tell you that games journalists are losing their minds over this. Their biggest issue is the “feminist propaganda” line, especially because Recent “Controversies” on game science and the creator of Black Myth: WukongFeng G. Feng and the company are accused of sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and creating a toxic work environment, based on statements made by Feng and reports from women working at Game Science. IGN appears to have taken no action in this matter. Some of Feng's statements were mistranslated Their initial report doesn't seem to have changed anyone's mind in the media, but there is a rumor that this is happening because of Game Science Rejected blackmail attempt Sweet Baby Inc.'s report has put this into perspective for a lot of gamers (assuming it's true). PC Gamer called it “a horrific form”, and IGN reminds their readers that Game Science has not responded to their “sexism” hit piece, while talking about how people on social media are criticizing these guidelines (while not providing any examples). Pre-release review from Screen Rant It was deducted points for “lack of inclusiveness and diversity”.
The review dedicated an entire section to Wukong's alleged “lack of inclusion and representation”, repeating the infamous @IGN Hit-piece on developers, Game Science.
The problem is that IGN's article was riddled with mistranslations, including misunderstandings of cultural idioms… pic.twitter.com/Mfcn9tAD3h
— Grumz (@grumz) August 18, 2024
Gee, I wonder why they asked the media not to talk about feminism and politics in their reviews. It's been a debate of sorts between studios and game journalists for the past few months – and by “debate” I mean journalists mention sexism every time they talk about it Black Myth: Wukong While Game Science ignores them. And their indifference is perhaps even louder than any attempt to resist the narrative; they're letting the harpies scream while releasing unbelievable trailers and campaigning with people who will buy their game rather than request a free Steam copy so they can accuse Game Science of hating women with their action fantasy game that has a monkey in it. Finding out their own irrelevance is probably what hurts the media the most, and now to be treated like childish activists is like rubbing salt in their wounds. You can tell how false this is because they don't care half as much about being told not to discuss Chinese politics or COVID (which I'm sure journalists won't complain about); it's just keeping their identity politics out of their articles and videos and reviewing actual game mechanics – in other words, their job – that bothers them. And well; I hope they feel as ridiculous as we do, and I hope Feng Jie and the rest of the game mechanics team have a good laugh before counting their money.
Let us know what you think of these Black Myth: Wukong Review guidelines in the comments!
