WASHINGTON (AP) — Blockbuster new Chinese video game What was hailed as a milestone for the country’s games industry shed unexpected light on long-standing claims of widespread sexism. China Male-dominated gaming culture.
While some gamers are basking in the massive success of the action-adventure game “Black Myth: Wukong,” others are voicing their dissatisfaction with sexism in China’s gaming industry, suing Shenzhen-based game developer Game Science for posting offensive messages online.
Critics posted screenshots of the messages on Chinese social media platform Weibo, with one post getting more than 400,000 likes. Critics say one of the posts by founder Feng Ji uses a depiction of oral sex as a metaphor for the positive reactions to a promotional video for the game. Other examples include obscene recruitment posters.
The Associated Press was not able to independently verify the screenshots, but gamers interviewed reported seeing the posts. Game Science did not respond to an email seeking comment and has not commented publicly on the controversy.
The criticism reflects simmering anger among Chinese women in the industry who say they have long been the target of misogynistic remarks and behavior.
Gender inequality is a global issue. The gaming industry is dominated by menDespite making up nearly half of gamers worldwide, women made up just 22% of the games industry workforce in 2020. Women in Gamesa UK-based organization.
Skyler Hu, the only woman on a games engineering team of more than 20 people, said male colleagues would often post sexual jokes in work chat groups. She said she would tell the offenders to stop, but the messages were ignored.
“Offensive jokes are too common and too explicit,” Ms. Hu, 23, said in a phone interview, speaking on the condition that she use her English name out of concern for her safety online.
For former video game operations manager Jessica Hua, the controversy surrounding the game reminded her of the toxic environment she experienced as a woman in the games industry.
“A lot of people think it’s a joke, but I don’t accept such misogynistic remarks,” Hua said. “I take this very seriously.”
“Black Myth: Wukong” is China’s first AAA game, a title given to big-budget productions comparable to A-list movies. The game made history by breaking the record of the most played single-player game on major online gaming platform Steam, with over 2.4 million players playing online at the same time. Over 10 million copies were sold within three days of the game’s release.
Many in China’s games industry say they see games as a source of national pride, a promotion of Chinese culture and a challenge to Western dominance in the industry.
“This is undoubtedly a milestone for China’s gaming industry,” said Feng Xu, secretary-general of the Chengdu Cybergame Industry Association. “By introducing ‘Monkey King’ to the world, we are exporting authentic Chinese culture.”
China: Put limits on the amount of time your children can play video games and Curb excessive spending on online gameshas given its full support to Black Myth. The government of Shanxi province in northwest China collaborated with the game’s developers to promote local tourism. State media also ran a series of articles praising the game.
Feng Xu says he doesn’t think the allegations against GameScience will have much of an impact on the game’s success. “Political correctness has nothing to do with games,” he says. “We gamers just play games, and we only care if the games are good and fun.”
Some say it’s only a matter of time before efforts to address sexism in China’s gaming culture become more widespread.
“Most game creators are men. In many games, we see women being unnecessarily sexy and objectified,” says cultural critic and game enthusiast Ashley Lee, “but I think this will gradually change in the future. It just takes time.”
