‘Black Myth: Wukong’: China’s first AAA game hit with censorship controversy

China’s first AAA video game “Black Myth: Wukong” has become embroiled in controversy over alleged topic censorship for livestreamers just days after its explosive debut on Tuesday. On Saturday, French video game streamer Benoit Reinier, known online as Ex Serv, shared a purported document he received from Hero Games, the marketing team behind “Black Myth: Wukong,” which allegedly contained a guideline on topics he must avoid when discussing the game in his livestream.

What happened: Reinier told the New York Times that Hero Games emailed him about three weeks ago, offering a free virtual key for “Black Myth: Wukong,” which he accepted. Along with the key, Hero Games sent him a guideline instructing him not to include “politics,” “feminist propaganda” or “other content that instigates negative discourse,” and advised him to avoid “trigger words” like “COVID-19,” “quarantine” and “isolation” in his video. The document noted, “By using the game key and creating content, you acknowledge that you have been informed of the following content, and your statements are not related to the marketing team.” At least two livestreamers have reportedly received the same guideline.
The aftermath: While the guideline had no legal repercussions for the livestreamers, Reinier chose not to feature “Black Myth: Wukong” on his channel. “I have never seen anything that shameful in my 15 years doing this job. This is very clearly a document which explains that we must censor ourselves,” Reinier said in his video. Despite the controversy, “Black Myth: Wukong” still had a successful launch on multiple online distribution platforms for PC, including Steam, where it is available for $59.99 and was played by around 2.2 million people concurrently at its peak on Wednesday.

Share this Article