Hit Taiwanese horror game Devotion banned in China after hidden message links Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh
- Chinese gamers loved it, and then hated it, after they spotted what they believed to be hidden insults
- Indie title garnered positive reviews from 95 per cent of players within four days
In the horror game Devotion, a Taiwanese cult follower kills his daughter with venomous snakes. In real life, the game's developers seem to have killed their instant hit in China with Winnie the Pooh.
Released February 19 on PC games distribution platform Steam, Devotion received a positive rating from 95 per cent of the more than 4,000 gamers that posted reviews in the first four days. At one point the indie title from Taiwan-based studio Red Candle was the most popular game on Chinese streaming network Bilibili, generating millions of views from live-streaming hosts walking through the game for audiences.
But that wild popularity ended abruptly after some Chinese players spotted what they read as hidden insults to their president in at least one scene of the game over the past weekend.
In the game, a red seal with the names of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh were found on a poster used to perform evil spells in traditional Chinese culture. Written in Taiwanese dialect around the edges of the poster were four characters meaning “Your mom moron.”
Gaming publication Spieltimes first reported the incident.
Some of China’s internet users have compared their leader to the chubby cartoon bear made popular by Disney, due to a resemblance, but authorities have cracked down on any use of the bear as a meme.
