Don’t you dare come between Chinese women and our virtual boyfriends
An unexpected game character inspired a revolt by disappointed female fans. To understand why, we need to look at Chinese digital culture
I’ve been playing video games for as long as I can remember. Like many girls and young women around the world, I learned quickly that most games weren’t really made with me in mind. If you had told my teenage self that one day I’d become emotionally invested in a group of virtual boyfriends, I would have laughed. If you had predicted that I would then watch a legion of women organise one of the most effective consumer revolts in Chinese gaming – over those same imaginary boyfriends – I would have laughed even harder.
Yet that’s exactly what happened this summer.
When Chinese game developer Papergames released Love and Producer in 2017, it helped create something long missing from China’s gaming industry: a blockbuster mobile game designed primarily for women. Rather than placing players on a battlefield or a football pitch, it invited them into a world of romance, mystery and emotional storytelling.
I’ve been playing the game for some time. Like many, I was drawn by the beautifully designed characters, then I stayed for the story. Over the past months, I had been waiting for the next chapter of the game. Instead, one afternoon in June, a trailer dropped.
Without warning or so much as a hint, Papergames introduced a brand new lead, a red-haired, heavily muscled and somewhat intimidating werewolf. Even as someone who enjoys werewolf stories, I struggled to understand how this newcomer would fit in. His design felt noticeably different from that of the delicate-looking previous five male characters, who had been very popular in China, and he didn’t seem to belong in this game.