CULTURE WAR: Why Western Activist-Journos Hate Eastern Game Developers

In the modern gaming industry, the global landscape has been growing increasingly interconnected between Western and Eastern audiences and developers. Eastern game developers, once considered niche or distant from Western markets, have once again begun to take center stage with a growing number of bold projects and innovative games. However, a curious phenomenon emerges when examining how Western left-wing media struggles to shape the perception of these developers and their creations. Through a mixture of ideological narratives, purposeful cultural misinterpretations, and selective criticism, their efforts often fall flat, revealing a profound disconnect between both the “journalists” and the audiences these games are designed for. Games like Stellar Blade, Black Myth Wukong, and Marvel Rivals exemplify this dynamic.

Eastern game developers often approach their craft with cultural authenticity and artistry, and they strive to be genuine on a human level, often free from Western ideological framing. For example, Stellar Blade, formerly known as Project Eve, stunned audiences worldwide with its dazzling visuals and unapologetic aesthetic direction. While fans celebrated its Korean studio, Shift Up, for embracing the classic "stylish action" formula, some left-wing Western media outlets accused the game of perpetuating “dated” depictions of women, citing Eve's form-fitting attire and hyper-feminine portrayal. Such critiques failed to consider the fact that Eve's facial and body model is a render of real Korean woman, to which they continued to complain regardless of the fact. For these activism-obsessed journos, reality is a needless obstacle that stands in the way of “progress”.

Rather than achieving their intended goal of rallying public opinion against Stellar Blade, these criticisms only spurred interest among players eager to engage with the developer's own unfiltered creative visions – The Streisand Effect, which should just be called “The Streisand Law” at this point, as this is a reoccurring effect for all forms of left-wing interactions with the global gaming and entertainment space.

Another illustrative case is Black Myth Wukong, the ambitious action RPG developed by the Chinese studio Game Science. Based on the timeless Chinese classic Journey to the West, the game represents a harmonious blending of cultural reverence and cutting-edge technology. While fans marveled at the incredible graphics and fluid game-play, “certain” Western media outlets approached the game with skepticism, listing more and more empty excuses to the repertoire of 'reasons' to not play the game. Yet, these thinly veiled insinuations ignored a crucial detail: Black Myth Wukong thrives not as a nationalistic project but as a deeply personal, artistic celebration of one of China’s greatest literary works. In resisting the politicized framing, gamers embraced the project for its universal appeal, proving that audiences are more interested in the quality of the craft than any supposed geopolitical undertones.

Similarly, the newly released hero shooter Marvel Rivals showcases the pitfalls of imposing Western progressive frameworks onto global products. Developed by NetEase, a Chinese game studio, the game united Marvel's global brand with Eastern gaming expertise, something that even American markets failed to do on their own turf. Despite the quality of the game itself, and with gamers lauding the game for its ability to completely outdo previous Western releases of a similar punch like Overwatch, Western left-wing competitors are still coming up with faults and excuses, critiquing perceived inconsistencies with “representation” and “inclusivity”, the same representation and inclusivity that has doomed many a game studio. Journalists even go so far as to blame the death of Concord on, of all games, Marvel Rivals, despite Concord dying many months before Marvel Rivals even released.

Ironically, these critiques were largely irrelevant to the people who actually played Rivals instead of reviewing it, the ones who are focused on game-play, innovative mechanics, and beautiful character designs rather than arbitrary check marks on a diverse character list like what Blizzard had, or possibly still has. The dissonance between media narratives and player priorities was stark and revealing.

Why do these efforts to frame Eastern game development in such a poor light fail so spectacularly? The answer lies in the fundamental difference between audiences and left-wing media gatekeepers. Gamers, regardless of geographic or cultural background, prioritize innovation, quality, and authenticity. In other words: Verisimilitude. They are savvy consumers who recognize genuine artistry and are becoming increasingly disenchanted with performative critiques that reduce astonishing works of merit into mere fodder for political debates and discussions that have absolutely no place for the games they're reviewing.

Ironically, these misinterpretations often strengthen the appeal most gamers have over Eastern game developers. Gamers worldwide increasingly resist clearly slanted left-leaning media narratives, valuing authentic artistic expression over ideological conformity and the idea of “political correctness”. When Western outlets criticize Eastern games for not fitting into their own progressive molds, players are reminded of what makes these games special: their distinct cultural identity, freedom from external dictates, and ability to remain timeless – thanks in part to their resistance to Western left-leaning narratives, which so heavily rely on modern-day musings and performative acts of modern inclusion, the lens of which seems to shift constantly.

None of this is saying that Western developers can't develop games with inclusion or diversity, but it has to be from somewhere in their hearts that is genuine, and it has to be with an audience it can call its own. Trying to force these Western left-wing ideals on a global market is not going to work, but this doesn't mean it doesn't have an audience. In fact, in many cases an indie developer isn't necessarily aiming to please a global market, just a smaller niche market that they know they can satisfy, and if it blows up huge like Lethal Company, then good for them.

Intergalactic: Heretic Prophet, and similar modern games like it – Concord, Foreskin- I mean Forsaken, and even Overwatch to a certain extent - is representative of a profound misunderstanding of this fact. The vast majority of people are not going to play a game with an ugly female protagonist sporting a snippy, snide attitude commonplace within poorly written post-Endgame Marvel scripts, and people most certainly aren't going to play your game if you make fun of them on X or Blue Sky.

Moreover, Eastern developers increasingly understand global – and more specifically, true Western - tastes while staying true to their cultural roots. They don't need validation from Western media outlets to succeed, instead relying on their work itself to speak for them. The global success of Genshin Impact from Chinese studio Mi Ho Yo, despite ongoing criticisms of character designs and monetization, serves as a testament to this, as the game has been around for years and years without any significant hitches in development as a result of detractors’ complaints. Players flock to these games for immersive experiences, proving that authentic storytelling and compelling game-play transcend cultural and ideological boundaries.

Time and time again, Western left-wing media keeps trying to micromanage, shot call, and even slander markets that are for one, not even associated with them, and second, who are across the globe geographically. Ultimately, the disconnect between Western left-wing media and Eastern game developers underscores a broader truth about global entertainment: quality and authenticity will always triumph over manufactured narratives, no matter how hard or how often media and “journalism” outlets attempt to say otherwise. As Eastern developers continue to produce groundbreaking work, they are redefining the gaming landscape so many times it might as well be the norm for them, and certainly not as passive participants beholden to Western approval but instead as creative powerhouses shaping the industry on their terms.

Try as they might, but games that attract a burgeoning existing audience will always triumph over games that exist to court a non-existing audience, no matter how much the left-wing media likes to complain about this reality. Concord, for all of its various faults, died because it didn't have the cojones to refine, improve, or find its special place in the genre it tried desperately to worm its way into, not because of Marvel Rivals, which released almost 4 months after the fact. Forspoken died because the protagonist was snippy, annoying, and an all-around alienating, horrible person, not because of the color of her skin... And Star Wars Outlaws was a financial car wreck because 90% of the cool features that were once going to define the game – like creating your own Mandalorian or Bounty Hunter - were cut out for the sake of fulfilling a diversity checkbox by having yet another annoying, unattractive female protagonist. A pretty awful trade if you ask me.

Now, if only Western journos could try to understand all of this, but then again that would be a game they’d always lose.