According to a journalist on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, Black Myth: Wukong is experiencing a harassment campaign from western critics and journalists after rejecting offers from DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) consultants.
The post (in Chinese) mentions how these consultancy firms “interfere“ with games like God of War: Ragnarok, Assassin’s Creed, or Dying Light 2: Stay Human. Notably, they mention the boycott to the game Hogwarts Legacy due to J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments.
>Chinese media: 'Black Myth: Wukong' refused to be extorted $7 million by SweetBaby.
English:
The reason why the team behind "Black Myth: Wukong" has been subjected to persistent sexist attacks and slander since their first promotional video is because they have consistently… pic.twitter.com/P94rUpVnuI
— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) June 14, 2024
The Chinese post implies that the backlash the game is receiving in western media is a direct result of their alleged refusal to contract with companies such as Sweet Baby Inc, which is also mentioned by name.
For context, the developer Game Science has been criticized for comments made by higher-ups in the company which includes co-founder Feng-Ji who reportedly compared game development to pregnancy, and said that men and women’s “biological differences” influences their decisions when playing and buying games.
Black Myth: Wukong is set to launch on August 20th, 2024, for Microsoft Windows (via Steam and the Epic Games Store), Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.