China has emerged as a substantial force in the games industry throughout the 21st century. Recent years have seen a number of high-profile releases shine in the country, whether it be Mihoyo’s Genshin Impact, Smilegate’s Crossfire, or Activision’s Call of Duty Mobile. All of these games and more attract millions of players across the region, resulting in massive profits and a cultural impact that cannot be understated.

The country is a big player in the gaming world, having a similar impact in film, music, and television as media from across the globe becomes more accessible to all, while some of its own properties begin making the jump to international audiences. Some of these experiences are fantastic, with Genshin Impact being one of the most imaginative and well received free-to-play RPGs in recent memory. While it’s great on the surface, we have already seen Devotion pulled from storefronts because of China’s influence, as well as many movies either being censored or self-censoring in order to appease a government that controls a marketplace of millions. As Chinese companies increase their stake in global talent, I can’t help but worry this influence might begin to negatively impact creative decision making.

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New regulations from China’s National Press and Publication Administration feature a number of controversial rules, whether it be limiting the amount of time young people are allowed to play games or asking developers and other creatives to exclude certain content from media produced in the country. This includes ‘effeminate men’ who don’t portray traditional male characteristics, with Genshin Impact’s Venti being singled out as a specific example. He’s a young, boyish character who some might easily confuse for a girl purely because he doesn’t abide by cliched conventions we associate with the male body type. Fans love him for this, unafraid to express himself as a male figure despite how he looks and speaks, and this should be something games welcome.

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https://www.pcgamesn.com/genshin-impact/2-2-release-date-update-patch

But China’s government has other ideas, not wanting Genshin Impact to express an allegedly misleading idea of masculinity that could have a negative impact on young consumers. This comes from a game where most of the female characters are knowingly sexualised with bouncing breasts and body types that are slender and conventionally attractive. This all comes from a place of heteronormativity, and so Mihoyo is free to profit off the image of attractive women so long as its men are masculine. Gaming has, until very recently, been a very heteronormative medium. In some ways, it still is. But with China offering a huge market and tough restrictions, many Western studios looking to profit at all costs may self-censor for a slice of the pie.

Western studios have changed for the better in recent years, but they have a storied history of sexualising female characters for capitalistic gain. Sex sells, and that remains true across the globe, but I’d hate to see the medium as a whole regress just so it can appeal to a specific audience. The definition of masculinity in the Western world has often fit a specific mould, this being a straight white man who is viewed as a confident hero with hardly any conceivable faults. Media has begun to effectively deconstruct this in recent years with games like The Last of Us Part 2 and films such as Bond’s No Time To Die. We’re learning that the old ways were often problematic, and these should be addressed to help make the world a better place. China’s government declaring that men and women should be depicted in a certain way or not at all feels infantile, and a step backwards.

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The cynicism here is transparent, and it’s obvious the Chinese government has a clear definition of how it believes men and women should behave in modern society, with the latter being objects of attraction while the former are functional, masculine figures of authority. Decisions like this are only going to spread a negative influence - in some ways, inclusion itself can be cynical, with studios adding diversity in order to appeal to more demographics. While gaming is full of artists, it’s also full of unscrupulous businessmen and women. Currently, diversity sells. If a new market - be that China or anywhere else - emerges where diversity does not sell, diversity will be sacrificed before sales.

Since these new guidelines have been in place, China has stopped approving games at all. It may yet force existing ones to abide by them or risk being taken off the market entirely, so I’d hate to see Genshin Impact do away with existing male characters who don’t reach the unreasonable standards being discussed here.

This all seems to come from Xi Jinping’s goal of societal conformity, ensuring that everyone behaves in a neutral way and is treated equally as a result. I’m not sure that goal will be met if you’re systematically attempting to single out any and all forms of diversity from your media, knowing full well the global impact it might have. A survey by Chinese organisation WorkForLGBT found that 80 percent of Chinese LGBTQ+ people were still closeted - it is not Chinese culture or Chinese people we have to fear, but the influence of China’s government. LGBTQ+ stories in China are already being stifled out, and we’ve already seen Disney editing Star Wars and Marvel movies to ensure their films sell to China while simultaneously wiping out what little sparks of representation these films even had. I can’t imagine a show like The Owl House or any others like it making it in China, at least not without heavy amounts of censorship. It’s gross, and is a morbid sign of things to come as the country’s influence on games, film, and more becomes apparent.

Ellie and Dina in The Last Of Us Part II

Coming regulations also want to censor ‘gay love’ and it doesn’t get more concrete than that. This is a government that has a problem with LGBTQ+ people, believing them to be abnormal or worthy of snuffing out across media in fear that others might be influenced or catch the queer by accident. People are born this way, it isn’t a choice, and there are likely millions in China who feel that way as well and are having their voices unfairly silenced

Large companies are beginning to realise the potential profit of Chinese audiences in the world of games, with more and more titles being approved for the region than ever before. If these submissions continue once the new regulations become commonplace, there’s a genuine fear that Western studios might alter major aspects of their games to appeal to such an audience.

This could result in diverse characters and queer storylines being neutered, with profit being placed above humanity in a cold, heartless way that only corporations would be capable of. We’ve seen it happen with cinema, so who is to say games won’t follow in the same footsteps? It’s easy to dismiss China, but that takes all the context out of the conversation. Very specifically, the fear is that China’s government will pressure studios into censoring or self-censoring in order to gain access to the Chinese market. It’s not as simple as China being bad. As with many issues in games, the problem is money. China has a lot of it, and its government has a lot of rules. Studios want that money, so they’ll probably follow those rules.

The globalisation of media across all mediums may see this vision become a reality far sooner than we expect. The games industry has made so much progress in recent years to ascend above the straight male audience the West has catered to for so long, and I’d hate to see that taken away to appease a government that only cares about a single, narrow view of the world. Games deserve better, people deserve better, and China deserves better.

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