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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Controversial 'incel' video game Revenge on the Gold Diggers is renamed after controversy
A highly controversial video game that was released under the title 'Revenge on Gold Diggers' has sparked huge debate over its portrayal of women - after it surged to the top of streaming charts. Released on gaming platform Steam China on June 19th, it was billed as a live action 'anti-fraud' game in which the aim of the game is to spot deception before it happens. However, all of the 'baddies' are women out to manipulate, with male protagonists ready to 'fight to the death' against them - and critics say it will appeal to and encourage incels, men who blame women for their romantic failure. The blurb for the game says its plot centres around a character called Wu Yulun, 'a man who was once deeply hurt by gold diggers' - and was apparently inspired by real-life experiences of the games' Hong Kong creators. Players are invited to 'navigate between several glamorous and highly adept female characters, and experience an emotional hunt that is gripping with every step.' After it became an unexpected hit, a maelstrom of controversy quickly unfolded with many calling the game misogynistic and deeply offensive. It's title was changed to 'Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator' within 24 hours of its release. Chinese artist Xu Yikun told BBC News the term 'gold digger' is rarely attributed to men in the country, saying: 'If you have a rich boyfriend, you are called a gold digger. 'If you try to make yourself look pretty, you are called a gold digger... Sometimes the label is used on you merely for accepting a drink from someone.' Others have defended the narrative, saying: 'Would men criticise a game if it were titled "Womaniser Game"?' In China, one newspaper said the game labelled 'an entire gender as fraudsters' - but the Beijing Youth Daily said it simply highlighted the growing issue of scams and emotional fraud in modern China. According to the country's National Anti-Fraud Centre, around £204million was lost to romantic scams in 2023. A Beijing-based video producer named Huang told the New York Times that the game 'very precisely taps into the intense gender antagonism currently sweeping through Chinese society.' He says the video game will appeal to incels, or involuntary celibates, men who believe they are unable to have sex or form relationships with women - often because they deem themselves not attractive enough. They often blame women and are extremely hostile towards them as a result. One Chinese man, 23, who is unemployed, told the newspaper: 'I hate women, though I still want to fall in love, just a little bit.' In Australia this week, parents were being warned their children could have access to hundreds of online games that simulate and encourage horrifying scenarios including rape, incest and child sex abuse. When searching on Steam, at least 232 results matched 'rape', a campaign group called Collective Shout revealed. On the same day, a search for 'incest' turned up 149 results. The game titles are the stuff of parents' nightmares, from 'Incest DEMO' and 'Incest Twins', to virtual reality 'Reincarnation in another world going to rape'. The latter allowed players to explore a virtual 'town' raping all the women who are non–player characters (NPCs) – avatars who are not controlled by a player. Another game allowed players to 'set up' hidden surveillance at a female neighbour's home to secretly record her sexual acts. Graphic imagery, which has been seen by Daily Mail Australia but is too disturbing to publish, included violent sexual torture of women and children, including incest-related abuse. Kelly Humphries, who lives in central Queensland, is a survivor of familial child sexual abuse and has shared her horror at the games. 'There's not a lot that surprises me anymore but this was shocking,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Experts have warned gaming platforms used across all age groups, including children, have listed video games that allow players to rape characters. In one game, a player could pretend to be a man recording a neighbour performing sexual acts 'I look at that research and I'm just so ashamed, angry and frustrated because I don't understand why this behaviour is acceptable for big companies.' Ms Humphries has worked in law enforcement and is an activist raising awareness about abuse, including as an ambassador for Collective Shout. 'To see this violence depicted in such a horrific, brazen and humiliating way pushes survivors back into themselves,' she said. 'It completely undermines their experiences by gamifying and almost making fun of their true experience.' Ms Humphries said the games will take a psychological toll on players, particularly on young people who interact online more often than older generations. '(The games) are normalising this behaviour,' she said. '(Young people) are either going to act out that behaviour or they're going to be a victim and suffer silently.' This was echoed by University of New South Wales' Professor Michael Salter, who said the games are 'part of subcultures online that normalise sexual abuse'. Professor Salter, who is also director of the East Asia and Pacific branch of Childlight, said the content will reinforce the acceptability of violence for children or people with problematic behaviour if they play the games. He said that, while the games breach national laws, platforms like Steam and operate internationally and as such, do not follow Australian standards. Both Ms Humphries and Professor Salter signed an open letter to companies including PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and Paysafe Limited, to request they cease processing payments for gaming platforms which host rape, incest and child sexual abuse–themed games. Professor Salter said there are no rules in international law to manage the issue so 'payment services effectively become a de facto regulator'. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Valve Corporation, which operates Steam, and the platform which is also named in the open letter, regarding the claims. Valve is understood to have changed its rules earlier this week, adding a clause prohibiting content that broke rules set out by payment processors including 'adult content'. There were initially 14 clauses which banned content including hate speech, malware, sexual content of real people or exploitation of children, Automaton Media reported. Professor Salter has also raised concerns about discoveries by his team which noticed people breaching others' boundaries on new technology platforms. 'Gaming services often forge ahead with designs without building in safety,' he said. '(On virtual reality platforms), we see kids adopt avatars that are highly sexualised adult avatars and then interact with actual adults.' He said the issue comes down to regulation and the need for clear, enforceable content rules to protect children, adding that parents can take action at home too. 'It's important to have discussions with kids about the gaming services they are on and the content they are seeing,' he said. 'It's not as easy as monitoring games so parents should set clear rules about types of games they are permitted to play and the types they are not allowed to play.' Another suggestion was that parents explain to children that their behaviour online matters and speaks to their character. 'There is a pervasive view that online behaviour is not real, that it is not serious,' he said. 'So it licenses a range of behaviours that are antisocial and transgressive.'
The Star
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
'Who killed love?' A video game plays to male resentment in China.
A deliveryman falls for a female livestreamer. She seduces him, drains his savings, then vanishes. Heartbroken, he reinvents himself as a successful businessperson seeking revenge on women like her. This is the plot of Revenge On Gold Diggers, one of the most popular and contentious video games in China. The interactive game, which debuted in June to enormous success, temporarily topped the charts on Steam China, the local version of the global gaming platform. Its tagline, 'Who killed love? It's the gold diggers who killed love,' has electrified Chinese social media. Players, cast as 'emotional fraud hunters,' navigate romantic relationships, searching for deception while guarding their wallets – and their hearts. One of the most liked comments on the game's community board calls it 'an elegy for our generation of Chinese men.' Another declares, 'Men must never retreat – this is a fight to the death.' The game has drawn the enthusiasm of disaffected young men, and fierce criticism from other corners. It has been decried as misogynistic. Some male gamers complain it panders to the Chinese government's concerns about plummeting marriage and birth rates. The debates surrounding Revenge On Gold Diggers reveal deep-seated male resentment and the broader socioeconomic anxieties about love, marriage and financial security in China. In recent years, a sense of stagnation, compounded by high housing costs, worsening job markets and limited social mobility, has left many young Chinese men disillusioned. This economic malaise has dovetailed with anxiety around dating, marriage and masculinity, breeding a sense of emotional desperation. The Chinese Internet is full of bitter comments from men who write about feeling reduced to 'walking wallets' in romantic relationships, perpetuating a sense of victimisation. Amid anxiety about the economy, jobs, high marriage costs and gender imbalances, many young people are reluctant to get married and have children. Last year, 6.1 million couples registered for marriage, a 21% plunge from a year earlier and fewer than half the number in 2013. 'The economic challenges are very real, and they naturally give rise to anxiety,' said a Beijing-based video producer who asked that I use only his family name, Huang, for fear of government retaliation. In an interview, he called the game 'a cheap, opportunistic product' that 'very precisely taps into the intense gender antagonism currently sweeping through Chinese society.' He said he believed the game appealed particularly to incels, involuntarily celibate men who consider themselves unattractive to women. A global phenomenon, the incels often blame women for their romantic failures. They tend to be economically marginalised and socially isolated, and to see the game as both therapy and resistance. A 23-year-old unemployed man living with his parents in Chongqing, who also asked that I use only his surname, Xi, told me: 'I hate women, though I still want to fall in love, just a little bit.' He has never been in a relationship, he said, and hopes Revenge On Gold Diggers could teach men like him how to behave in love. After graduating from college, Xi worked briefly in an electronics assembly factory and as a phone service salesperson. He quit both jobs because of health reasons and boredom, he said, and spends most of his time online. He said he joined online boycotts of brands that were perceived to support feminism, such as The e-commerce site was targeted last year after hiring Yang Li, a comedian who once joked, 'How can men look so average, and yet be so confident?' dropped Yang after the protests. The opening scene of Revenge On Gold Diggers features a heartbroken, overweight man who is about to jump to his death. That is widely understood as a reference to an incident in 2024 when a man died by jumping into the Yangtze River after his girlfriend suggested they take a break. The police investigated and found that the woman had done nothing wrong, calling it a 'normal relationship.' But some men called her a 'gold digger' and wanted her to be held legally accountable. Another case cited in the game's comment section is a 2023 conviction in Shanxi province. A man was sentenced to three years in prison for raping his fiancee. The defense argued that betrothal implied consent, especially after the man had paid a so-called bride price of about US$14,000 (RM59,443). But the court ruled against him. The decision was included in the case library of China's highest court, elevating its importance and further angering male commenters who saw it as evidence that feminists had taken over the legal system. At the centre of many of these grievances is the bride price, a Chinese custom in which the groom's family pays money or gifts to a bride's family before marriage. Once seen as a form of goodwill, it's now often seen as a financial transaction and, unsurprisingly, a contentious one. In regions of China with many more men than women, bride prices can soar to tens of thousands of dollars, adding crushing financial burdens to young men. Male gamers and commenters sometimes describe the custom as 'legalised robbery.' Feminists and many others argue that the system is part of deeper inequalities in the society. They note that women are not necessarily the financial beneficiaries. 'In many cases, the money doesn't go to the daughters at all,' Li Sipan, a visiting scholar at Stanford and an advocate for women's rights, said in an interview. 'It goes to her parents, and often gets used as bride price for her brothers,' she said. 'In this sense, it's not just intergenerational exploitation of daughters, but also of sisters.' She said the government's failure to address broader inequalities and provide an adequate social safety net for women had intensified gender mistrust on both sides. Some male gamers have turned against Revenge On Gold Diggers. After its developer, Qianfang Studio, publicly thanked female players for their support, some men posted screenshots cancelling their purchases in protest. The game's director later issued an apology for hurting players' feelings. Qianfang Studio did not respond to a request for comment. The government's responses to the game have been more ambivalent. Shortly after the game's release, the studio changed its Chinese title to Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator. The English-language title remained, and the move was widely believed to be an effort to deflect criticism and appease the government. Yet the official newspaper Beijing Youth Daily published a favorable review, reposted by Xinhua News Agency, that highlighted the game's potential for public education. 'Online romance scams are surging,' the article noted. 'This game helps young people internalize the message: 'Only by learning to protect yourself can you safeguard your true feelings and love'.' – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
New York Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Who Killed Love?' A Video Game Plays to Male Resentment in China.
A deliveryman falls for a female livestreamer. She seduces him, drains his savings, then vanishes. Heartbroken, he reinvents himself as a successful businessman seeking revenge on women like her. This is the plot of Revenge on Gold Diggers, one of the most popular and contentious video games in China. The interactive game, which debuted in June to enormous success, temporarily topped the charts on Steam China, the local version of the global gaming platform. Its tagline, 'Who killed love? It's the gold diggers who killed love,' has electrified Chinese social media. Players, cast as 'emotional fraud hunters,' navigate romantic relationships, searching for deception while guarding their wallets — and their hearts. One of the most liked comments on the game's community board calls it 'an elegy for our generation of Chinese men.' Another declares, 'Men must never retreat — this is a fight to the death.' The game has drawn the enthusiasm of disaffected young men, and fierce criticism from other corners. It has been decried as misogynistic. Some male gamers complain it panders to the Chinese government's concerns about plummeting marriage and birth rates. The debates surrounding Revenge on Gold Diggers reveal deep-seated male resentment and the broader socioeconomic anxieties about love, marriage and financial security in China. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
