Red Candle Games have announced Chinese-blacklisted horror game Devotion will be available for sale once again via their own website.
For those unfamiliar, in February 2019 Taiwanese developer Red Candle Games were accused of placing hidden messages in their horror game Devotion, mocking the Chinese President Xi Jinping. As the game centers around a cult, others felt Devotion as a whole was a critique or mockery of the Chinese government, and its supporters in mainland China.
The game’s publisher, Indieevent, later had their business licence revoked by the Chinese government. In July 2019 the developer confirmed the game would not be returning to sale. The game was later added to the Harvard University library. Red Candle Games announced the game will have a limited physical release in June, purely within Taiwan.
Red Candle Games announced on December 15th, 2020 they would be putting the game on GOG. However, GOG would state the same day game was not coming to their platform “after receiving many messages from gamers” mere hours after the announcement.
After the announcement, GOG were openly condemned by many Twitter users, including some developers. One took it a step further, with Glass Bottom Games’ founder Megan Fox announcing SkateBIRD would not be coming to GOG.
Now, Red Candle Games have announced via Twitter the opening their own e-shop, including their prior title Detention and the return of Devotion just over two years after being blacklisted. Devotion is available DRM free for $16.99 USD, in a bundle with its soundtrack for $20.68 USD, or in a bundle with Detention for $33.56 USD.
Devotion is available once again for Windows PC, and Mac (both via Red Candle Games).
You can find the full rundown (via Red Candle Games) below.
From the creators of the IndieCade Journey Award winner Detention, Red Candle Games brings you a story Inspired by East Asian folk culture. Devotion is a first-person atmospheric horror game depicting the life of a family shadowed by religious belief. Explore as a 1980s Taiwan apartment-complex lost in time gradually shift into a hellish nightmare. Delve into the vows each member of the family has made, and witness their devotion.
Story
You step into your apartment, 80s music drifts through the air, an idol show plays on the television; a nostalgic setting surely, but what is this feeling of unease? You question this place you used to call “home,” noticing as it distorts with every shift of your eyes, anxious as your surroundings skirt the precipice of the extraordinary. As you push through each memory, uncovering the layers of each mystery, you may find buried in this home, the unsettling truth of those who lived here.
“Remember what you prayed for…”Features
- First-person atmospheric horror
- Story-driven exploration and intrigue
- Sound design applying the use of East Asian instruments and 80s Taiwanese music
- Relive the 1980s Taiwanese lifestyle through visuals and setting
- Unique Taiwanese/East Asian reference (folk culture, elements of taoism/buddhism)
Image: Red Candle Games
