A terrifying Taiwanese video game linking Chinese President Xi to Winnie the Pooh has been sold again.
The hit title, dubbed Devotion, was withdrawn for a second time yesterday after it sparked controversy last year over a symbol that brought together the names of the boss and the cartoon bear.
His developer announced yesterday that he would start selling the game again from Friday – just to deny his release site the decision hours later.
The much-anticipated video game caused controversy last year after Chinese gamers saw a square stamp that brought together the names of President Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh
Beijing has launched a series of scans on the lovable cartoon bear since 2017 after Xi’s appearance was compared to the honey-loving character by social media users
China is well aware of any mention of Winnie the Pooh regarding its President.
Beijing has launched a series of scans on the lovable cartoon bear since 2017 after Xi’s appearance was compared to the honey-loving character.
The game was banned in China last year and the Chinese publisher lost its business license for ‘endangering national safety’, according to previous reports.
Produced by Taiwanese independent developer Red Candle Games, Devotion takes players through a variety of Taiwanese family home space in different years in the 1980s.
In tweet on Wednesday, Red Candle Games announced that they would start selling the game through GOG.com ‘s digital distribution platform from Dec. 18 for $ 16.99 / € 13.99.
But a Polish-based GOG decided against the move just hours later.
‘After receiving a lot of messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store,’ he tweeted.
Red Candle Games then he expressed his remorse for the decision, but said he was ‘willing to understand and respect GOG’s decision’.
The company apologized to the gamers who had been looking forward to the re-release of the game.
“This is a difficult problem to overcome, but we will not stop succeeding,” read his tweet.
Devotion was first launched through Steam, a video game distribution platform, in February last year to great fanfare.
The controversy began shortly after its release when Chinese gamers noticed a poster hanging in one of the rooms with a controversial stamp.
The print, ‘Xi Jinping Little Bear Winnie’, bore the full name of the President of China and the Chinese name of Winnie the Pooh.
Chinese players were furious when Devotion on Steam was discovered and reviewed.
Red Candle Games said the symbol was a ‘placeholder’ that should have been erased before it was released.
The company said in a statement that it was ‘deeply sorry’ for the ‘accident’ and ‘sincerely apologizes’ to their players.
In 2013, Chinese web users circulated photos (above) that placed an image of Pooh and his slim friend ‘Tigger’ next to an image of Xi walking with then-US President Barack Obama
In 2014, a hand-picked photo shoot between President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (not the one above) sparked internet memes. Above, Abe and Xi shake hands ahead of group photo session for G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, last September
The handcuff between President Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was compared to an image of Pooh holding on to the hook of his grumpy donkey friend Eeyore (above)
But that wasn’t enough to put the matter to bed. Two days later, the company said it had decided to withdraw the game ‘due to technical issues’.
He promised to review the content of the game once again to make sure ‘no other unforeseen items’ were included.
In June last year, Chinese authorities revoked the business license of Indievent, the publisher behind Devotion, for undermining national security and harming the public interest.
A month later, Red Candle Games again apologized and said the incident did ‘great harm’. He described the symbol as an ‘urgent and unprofessional mistake’ and hoped for a ‘second chance in the future’.
Comparisons between Xi and Winnie the Pooh first surfaced in 2013, after Chinese social media users began circulating a pair of photos that placed an image of Pooh and his slim tiger friend ‘Tigger’ next to a photo of Xi walking with then US president Barack Obama.
And in 2015, a photo of Xi standing through the roof of a parade car with an image of Winnie the Pooh’s toy car (above) is said to be ‘the most censored image’ in China of the year
In 2014, a planned handshake between Xi and then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was matched by an image of Pooh grabbing the hook of his grumpy friend Eeyore’s ass.
Chinese government censors have dismissed the images mocking Xi on social media. In August 2018, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh film, ‘Christopher Robin’, refused to be released in China.
In June of that year, Chinese authorities suspended HBO after John Oliver’s ‘Last Week Tonight’ host highlighted Xi’s sensitivity to being compared to the bear.
In 2015, political analysis portal Global Risk Insights released a photo of Xi standing through the roof of a parade car with an image of Winnie the Pooh’s toy car ‘the most censored image’ of the year.