Leaked ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ Content Creator Agreement Bans Discussion Of Certain Topics Including “Politics”, “Feminist Propaganda”, And “Other Content That Instigates Negative Discourse”
An alleged leaked content creator agreement regarding Black Myth: Wukong has revealed that its dev studio, Game Science, is purportedly requiring that any and all coverage of the game avoid discussing “content that instigates negative discourse”.
The public was first made privy to this supposed document on August 17th when it was itself shared to the Reddit group /r/GamingLeaksAndRumors.
Supposedly sent to creators by Chinese video game publisher and marketing group Hero Games on behalf of Game Science, the agreement provides an itemized list of ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ – one Do and seven Don’t, to be exact – that creators should keep in mind while covering Black Myth: Wukong.
These include:
- DO Enjoy the game!
- Do NOT insult other influencers or players.
- Do NOT use any offensive language/humor.
- Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse.
- Do NOT use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘COVID-19’.
- Do NOT discuss content related to China’s game industry policies, opinions, news, etc.
“By using the game key and creating content, you acknowledge that you have been informed of the following content, and your statements are not related to the marketing team,” reads a disclaimer adorning the top of the document.
Curiously, it seems that though the document is in fact legitimate, it was not sent wholesale to everyone who received a review code for Black Myth: Wukong, but rather just independent content creators.
For example, while French YouTuber Ex Serv has claimed to have personally received the document, video game news outlet TheGamer has conversely noted that it “was not included in the review code agreement that we received”.
Such a discrepancy would also explain why ScreenRant, whose review explicitly criticized how the game “largely lacks inclusion & representation, was allowed to bring up such a guaranteed-discourse-sparking topic despite such discussions being banned by the agreement.
At current, the document’s veracity remains unconfirmed, as both Game Science and Hero Games have yet to issue a public comment on the matter.
Further, it is unknown just how many content creators, and which specific ones at that, this agreement was purportedly sent to.
For those interested in getting a copy of the game for themselves while also being allowed to freely speak one’s mind regarding its existence (regardless of just how braindead or on-point one’s take might be), Black Myth: Wukong hits the PlayStation 5 and PC platforms on August 20th, with an Xbox Series X|S version set to drop at a later date.
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