Black Myth: Wukong- A Chinese video game that has sparked debate on sexism in nation's gaming industry

A new video game in China has been hailed a milestone for the country's gaming industry but it has sparked a debate of rampant sexism in China's male-dominated gaming culture, a report by the news agency Associated Press on Monday (Sept 9) said. “Black Myth: Wukong” is China’s first-ever AAA game, a designation for big-budget productions akin to A-list movies.

The Associated Press report said that the game made historywhen over 2.4 million people played it simultaneously online,breaking the record for the most-played single-player game on Steam, a major online gaming platform.

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Three days after the game's debut on August 19,over 10 million copies had been sold.

'A point of national pride for China'

Many people in the gaming industry regard“Black Myth: Wukong” as a point of national pride for China. Speaking to the Associated Press,Feng Xu from theChengdu Cyber Game Industry Association said, "There is no doubt that this is a milestone in the Chinese gaming industry."

“It’s exporting authentic Chinese culture by introducing Monkey King to the world,” Feng added.

While some gamers are basking in the runaway success of the game, others have levelled allegations against the game’s Shenzhen-based developer, Game Science.

The allegations against Game Science

Game Science has been accused of posting offensive messages online.Critics posted screenshots of the messages on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, with one compilation receiving over 400,000 likes.

One of the messagesthat critics say came from founder Feng Ji uses descriptions of oral sex as a metaphor for the positive responses to the game’s promotional video.

Other examples include lewd recruiting posters.

The report highlighted that the criticism of Game Sciencereflectedsimmering anger among Chinese women in the industry who say they have long been targeted by misogynistic remarks and behaviour.

For Jessica Hua, a former video game operation manager, controversy over the game reminded her of the toxic environment she experienced as a woman in the game industry.

“A lot of people think it’s just kidding around. But I cannot accept such misogynistic remarks.I take it quite seriously."

(With inputs from agencies)