As it turns out, influencers and streamers covering Black Myth: Wukong have been asked to keep politics, COVID-19 references, and “feminist propaganda” out of their coverage.
As reported by the Sports Illustrated video game team, French content creator and former Gamekult editor Benoit Reinier released a video revealing that he had been sent the document and subsequently shared it online.
The document, sent to influencers and streamers by Hero Games – the marketing team at Game Science, the developer and publisher of Black Myth: Wukong – lists a number of topics they are not allowed to talk about when covering the game.
This includes:
- Insulting other influencers or players
- Use of offensive language or humor
- Use of “trigger words” such as “quarantine,” “isolation,” or “COVID-19”
- Discussion on “Politics, opinions, news, etc. on the Chinese game industry”
Perhaps most controversially, however, the document also instructs influencers not to use “politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, or other content that incites negative discourse” when discussing or streaming the game.
It seems that the document was only sent to YouTubers and streamers and not to gaming journalists. VGC has not received the document and Eurogamer has also stated that it did not receive it.
It's not uncommon for influencers to receive guidelines on what they should and shouldn't discuss when covering games, but these usually focus on the content of the game itself rather than external issues like politics, feminism, or the COVID-19 pandemic.
While the reason for these requests is unclear, as IGN reported last year, fans have pointed out that Game Science CEO Feng Ji and other members of the development team have allegedly made sexually explicit and misogynistic comments on social media in the past.
So it may be that Game Science and Hero Games are trying to prevent influencers and streamers from discussing the studio's previous controversial comments in the hope that the coverage will be mostly positive.
VGC's Black Myth: Wukong Impressions called the game “a nice, if somewhat boring, boss rush” and said, “It's absolutely gorgeous and technically powerful, but the gameplay and narrative leave a lot to be desired.”