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Daily Mail
6 days 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.'
CNA
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
‘Revenge on Gold Diggers': Why a Chinese dating scam game went viral
SINGAPORE: While out on a food delivery, a young Chinese rider meets a girl and falls head over heels in love. But this meet-cute does not have a happy ending. The man is quickly manipulated by his new girlfriend who steals all his money by asking for expensive dinners and luxury gifts. This is a storyline from a recently released live-action video game Revenge on Gold Diggers, which has sparked intense interest and debate across China. Billed as China's first interactive anti-scam video game, players assume the role of Wu Yulun, the game's male protagonist, who had once fallen prey to a pig-butchering love scam. Determined to get even, Wu embarks on a mission to infiltrate a crime syndicate led by several women who con lovelorn men out of their money before vanishing into thin air. Since its release on Jun 19, the game has sold over one million copies, soaring to the top of gaming charts - and even surpassing Black Myth: Wukong at one point on the leading global gaming platform Steam. It has also garnered rave reviews for its realistic and interactive gameplay and storylines. At the same time, it is being slammed for portraying misogynistic and harmful gender stereotypes. 'Its provocative anti-scam content is infuriating,' wrote one user who goes by the handle Uncle You, adding that the game was 'cheap entertainment barely elevated from lowbrow clickbait'. Writing on the Sina Weibo microblogging site, a feminist blogger who goes by the user handle Always-bebrave, criticised the game for 'forcibly associating women with emotional fraud'. 'Real anti-fraud education should make people see how power can harm relationships, rather than teaching people how to hate a certain gender,' she said. 'This is what happens when a video game relies on manufactured conflict, fabricated storylines and playing the victim card for clout,' said another female gaming blogger on Weibo by the handle Qiufengyuan. TAPPING INTO SCAM PARANOIA Ongoing social anxiety about scams, combined with polarising discourse around gender inequality and dating culture in China are some reasons the game went viral, according to Shen Cuihua from the University of California, Davis. 'No matter where you stand on this issue, a polarising and emotionally charged story usually gets people worked up, and it can be highly shareable - perfect for short-form video platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu,' Shen said. According to a report by China's Supreme People's Court published in March, around 40,000 cases of telecom fraud, involving 82,000 people, were recorded in 2024 - marking an annual increase of more than 26 per cent. Love scams, including pig-butchering schemes, are classified under telecom fraud - an umbrella term for scams that exploit victims through digital communication tools. Pig-butchering, or 'sha zhu pan' in Mandarin, refers to a common scam tactic in which victims are 'fattened up' through weeks or months of developing an online relationship. Once trust is established, scammers strike - defrauding victims of their hard-earned savings, effectively 'slaughtering the pig'. The game's developers said they drew inspiration from real-life experiences, insisting that the storylines were intended to explore broader and more complex gender themes - with no intention of vilifying women. But as outrage grew and online backlash continued, the game's Chinese title was changed from Lao Nǚ You Xi, meaning 'Gold Digger Game', to Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator. Its English title, Revenge on Gold Diggers, remains unchanged. Many took offence at the usage of the Chinese term lao nǚ, often used in a derogatory manner to describe scheming gold diggers who take advantage of men for their personal gain. Sun Jing, a game scholar and associate professor at the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, said the game was 'clearly male-oriented' and also 'reinforced prejudice against women' - showcasing women as 'dominating, manipulative gold diggers' while portraying men as 'innocent victims and brave avengers'. 'Recent years have seen growing discussion on gender issues in China, including among gaming communities,' Sun said, pointing to recent hit Chinese video games like Love is All Around, an interactive romance game. 'Games are usually (developed for) two mainstream perspectives: misogynists and feminists,' she added. 'In this case, Revenge on Gold Diggers is clearly designed to appeal to the first group.' SEXIST TROPES Daniel Ahmad from video games market research firm Niko Partners noted the growing popularity of interactive simulation games among Chinese gamers, which feature lifelike characters and branching storylines. 'This game is mostly about taking revenge on women said to be 'catfishing' or emotionally manipulating men with the goal of taking their money,' he said, adding that 'players made their own choices (over) eight hours of live-action content and more than 200 decision points'. 'The situation underscores the delicate balance required when tackling sensitive societal issues through video games - not just in China but also globally,' he said. 'The game (plays out) more like a film rather than a (conventional) video game. It's interactive, educational and uses gaming as a medium to strike up conversations about social topics - progressive or conservative,' said Zoe Zhao, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Gamers who spoke to CNA shared mixed reviews. Fa Zai, a gaming blogger, said the game's storyline was 'meaningful and realistic'. 'Good guys and bad guys are everywhere - there's no need to argue. If this game made you uncomfortable, I guess it hit a nerve somewhere.' Liu Dayuan, a 29-year-old gamer, said he had never experienced the situations depicted in the game. 'So it's hard to imagine what it would be like if it happened to me.' Another player, who went by the handle MMY, said the game's plot about 'pursuing gold diggers' was obviously unrealistic but offered an intriguing plot line. 'The dialogue does feel pretty real - maybe some of the conversational tactics are used in real-life,' he said. Shen brought up the 'mean world syndrome' condition - which shapes how people view the world from TV, video games and other media - perceiving the world to be more dangerous than it actually is. 'In this case, it's possible that gamers heavily exposed to the game's narratives might start to see women as being stereotypical gold diggers - and intimate relationships as merely transactional,' she said. 'And over time, this might lead to a distorted view of dating and gender roles, especially among young and socially isolated gamers.'
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First Post
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- First Post
'Revenge on Gold Diggers': How a new video game is sparking a debate on sexism in China
The game entitled 'Revenge on Gold Diggers', has topped the online sales charts in China but sparked controversy and claims of sexism and misogyny. In the game, the protagonist Wu Yulun, who was previously deceived by a 'gold digger', seeks revenge. So fierce was the backlash in some quarters that the game developers have quietly changed its name. But that hasn't stopped it from topping the sales charts read more The interactive game 'Revenge on Gold Diggers' was released by publisher Qianfang Studio. Image courtesy: X An interactive videogame in China has caused an uproar and sparked a debate on sexism. The game, entitled 'Revenge on Gold Diggers', has topped the online sales charts but sparked controversy. So fierce was the backlash in some quarters that those behind the game changed its name quietly. But what do we know about the game? Why did it cause such an uproar? Let's take a closer look: What do we know? The interactive game was released by publisher Qianfang Studio. The game's lead is Hong Kong filmmaker Mark Hu. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Hu is known for working on Category III films in Hong Kong – which only those above 18 are allowed to see. It hit Steam, a worldwide gaming platform, on June 19. It costs $6 (Rs 515). The platform described the game thus: 'You (the player) will play as the protagonist Wu Yulun, a man who was once deeply hurt by 'gold diggers', and is determined to use himself as bait to fight back against a gold digger organisation of 'emotional hunters'. Step into this grey area called love, navigate between several glamorous and highly adept female characters, and experience an emotional hunt that is gripping with every step.' The full-motion videogame is said to have multiple main characters and 38 possible endings. The game quickly topped the sales chart within hours of the release. In fact, it even entered the top 10 bestselling PC games in China – surpassing games like Black Myth and Baldur 3. Some have suggested the game was made after the suicide of Pangmao, a social media influencer known as 'Fat Cat' in April 2024. His death sparked much online talk about 'gold diggers' with many accusing his girlfriend of being responsible for his death. However, police dismissed the allegations. The game caused an uproar on social media as soon as it was released. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Sparks divisions' Artist Xu Yikun, who played the game, told the BBC it relied on a 'a classic business model that thrives on generating content that sparks debate and divisions'. 'It's a label that's used, all too often, on women,' Xu said about the term 'gold digger'. "Sexist jokes and derogatory terms like these have found their way into our everyday language." '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,' she adds. A cutscene from the game that hit Steam, a worldwide gaming platform, on June 19. Image courtesy: X China is already witnessing divisions over gender with politicians including Xi calling on women to 'embrace their roles as wives and mothers' and the state cracking down on women's rights activists amid calls for gender equality. Though developers attempted damage control by renaming the game to ' Emotional Anti-Fraud Regulator', Hu has now been banned on several Chinese social media platforms. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Those who worked on the game have defended it. As game producer Mu Fei told the website Think China, 'We used stereotypical labels combined with layered personalities as a design formula. These characters can love and hate, and players can learn by understanding them… psychology, sociology, communications, and other fields are all part of the game.' Mu said the game was born out of the real-life experiences of those who worked on it. They say they never meant to 'target women' – but instead wanted to have an 'open dialogue about emotional boundaries and the grey zones in modern dating'. Others too have rallied to the game's defence. 'The game isn't trying to say that all women are gold diggers. .. I don't find it targeting either gender," Zhuang Mengsheng, 31, told BBC. 'Both women and men can be gold diggers.' 'I don't get why people are upset about this. If you aren't a gold digger yourself, why should you feel attacked by this game?' a 28-year-old man added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'I actually thought the game's creators are very bold. These issues [like emotional fraud] aren't widely discussed enough in China.' Many on social media also echoed these calls. 'How does 'gold digger' equate to misogyny or anti-women? Where's the logic?' one person asked. 'Would men criticise a game if it were titled 'Womaniser Game'?' another enquired. 'This is just to raise awareness of anti-fraud, how is it related to women's rights?' a third netizen wondered. Newspapers divided too Newspapers in China too have taken opposing viewpoints. One piece published in a news outlet in central Hubei said, 'Genuine anti-fraud education should focus on identifying fake identities and scripted manipulation, not on labeling an entire gender as 'perpetrators.'' 'Both men and women alike have committed emotional scams. There are countless examples. But this game deliberately ties fraud to women.' Another outlet in Beijing commended the game for 'creatively strengthening young people's awareness of safety in romantic relationships'. 'We need to put a stop to emotional fraud without delay,' it added. With inputs from agencies STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
