How Black Myth: Wukong Developer’s History of Sexism Is Complicating its Journey to the West - IGN
For an indie studio that has only released mobile titles within China, this widespread acclaim over Black Myth: Wukong is a largely unprecedented feat, particularly for a game that has not been released yet. But beneath the luster of this souls-like, Game Science is plagued by claims of sexism.
IGN spoke to several women familiar with gaming culture, as well as the games and technology industry, in China, many of whom requested to be anonymous for fear of backlash from fans of Game Science and the broader games community. “In the eyes of many female players, [Game Science] has a notably negative reputation,” said Jen (pseudonym), a Chinese games designer who’s now based outside of China. “I admire their dedication and work. I had high expectations for their game, until I came across their misogynistic remarks around 2021, which was reported in the news.”
IGN reached out to Game Science ahead of the publication of this article, but the studio did not respond to a request for comment on any of the allegations.
Is it because the sperm isn’t virile enough? Is the pregnancy too short? Is the baby lacking nutrition? Are the doctors in charge of caesarean sections lowly skilled? Why can’t we produce a healthy child (product)?”
Then there’s the Weibo post that garnered significant backlash. Soon after the pre-alpha video for Black Myth: Wukong was released in August 2020, Feng penned his thoughts about the video going viral on Weibo. The post was largely about his self-criticism over the video’s lackluster production quality, with Feng Ji stating that “The 13-minute B1 looks like it was carelessly pieced together” and that the “frame rates of 100,000 heavenly soldiers have dropped so hard that they have caused PTSD.” But this was accompanied by several innuendo-laden lines. In the first line, Feng wrote, “I want to expand my circle and hire more people, get licked until I can’t get an erection.” Several lines down, he also added, “I know, you just happen to be a little depressed. It is my honor to provide you with some comfort in the lower half of your body.” He later doubled down with a separate comment, saying that “I got wet after watching it a couple of times… the
pressure in my crotch is immense!”
The global buzz around Black Myth: Wukong may be gradually reaching fever pitch, but the excitement over the game feels like it has peaked back in China, with local publications referring to Black Myth: Wukong as the pinnacle of locally-made AAA games. When it was introduced in 2020 with a 13-minute pre-alpha trailer, Black Myth: Wukong was met with international acclaim for its sleek, cinematic visuals and high-octane, high-fantasy combat scenes. Within a day of its release, the video had garnered 2 million views on Youtube and 10 million views on Chinese streaming site Bilibili. At the height of this commotion around Black Myth: Wukong, Game Science even had to fend off unsolicited visitors at its studio by putting up a notice outside its premises, according to a report from IGN China. One intruder, who thought the office would be vacant on a Saturday afternoon, broke into the building through a window to pay the studio a visit—a stunt that shocked the employees who were working at the office over the weekend. In another incident, a visitor abruptly turned up at the door, declaring that they had quit their job to participate in the game’s development.
For an indie studio that has only released mobile titles within the country, this widespread acclaim over Black Myth: Wukong is a largely unprecedented feat, particularly for a game that has not been released yet. But beneath the luster of this souls-like is a studio plagued by claims of sexism. Several posts have surfaced from Chinese social media site Weibo, written by individuals from the studio, that contain multiple references to genitalia and sexual innuendos. These have provoked a backlash among some in the games community, many of whom are women. This was coupled by recruitment posters by the studio, produced in 2015, which featured images and headlines that point to a culture of ingrained sexism in Game Science.
To many who were familiar with Feng’s mannerisms, these were just the harmless quirks of a game developer who, as vulgar as he may seem, is steadfast about his vision for game-making. Several fans have excused his behavior, with them chalking this up to a straight-talking passion for game-making. “There’s no need to debate, many literary giants also use foul language, let’s just experience the work ourselves. A single beauty can cover up all the ugliness, so let’s just wait for the results. But I will support it because of their courage, and that they were able to put so much culture and history into the game,” reads one response, written in Chinese, to a video discussing the controversy.
But to other industry professionals and players, these comments felt unnecessarily crude and offputting. “I noticed that the company never really addressed the critiques directly. I know that they probably removed some of the stuff that they previously posted, but they never apologized or never acknowledged that,” says Cathy (pseudonym), a Chinese game developer who requested anonymity. “Personally, I feel that as an industry professional, I would probably still play the game just because it's really important [...] for the industry itself. But I probably wouldn't promote the game anyway, I wouldn't be supportive.”
These crude expressions, and the culture of sexism, also seem to extend to the rest of Game Science as well, even prior to the studio’s founding. In a 2014 annual meeting held at Tencent, members of the Asura Online team—some of them being the co-founders of Game Science—produced a video that poked fun at the imagined plight of its team after the game was shut down. In this video, a few male employees were depicted as adult film actors and a rapist after they lost their jobs, whereas some of its female staff had to work as nightclub hostesses and foot bath attendants (Tencent declined to comment for this piece).
And a year later in 2015, Game Science also published several recruitment posters that featured suggestive images, which IGN has seen and verified. In one poster, a risque illustration that resembles the artwork of Austrian artist Egon Schiele is accompanied by a header that says “Mandatory self-pleasure”. In another poster that featured the rear view of a woman, the ad reads, “Don’t screw your colleagues”. In the same ad, friends with benefits were also implied as an office perk. And a third poster, featuring a dumbbell, is far more pointed, with the ad stating that “fatties should fuck off”.
Then there is a separate Weibo post by lead artist and co-founder, Yang Qi, back in 2013, which was also unearthed by internet sleuths. In the post, Yang embarked on an extensive diatribe about how games made for women and men are completely different, due to their biological differences. In the post, he pointed out that when men “were holding a heavy machine gun and shooting at governments in your dreams, what the ladies are dreaming about are bags that would make their friends jealous.” He then concluded the post by suggesting that he would need to put on silk stockings and suspenders to work, brew chrysanthemum tea, and put a humidifier on his table to make “soft and effeminate things”.
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