MedjersoN_HP
You've probably heard about the viral game Probably Stolen (186 thousand peak online players, even though it's a single-player game).
I caught a glimpse of the discussions, got the gist of it, but couldn't be bothered to dig in and translate everything thoroughly. I asked a neural network for details. Here, sharing with you.
This incident became one of the loudest and most short-lived scandals on Steam in recent times.
Backstory: The game's explosive launch
The game Probably Stolen instantly became a hit, selling over 500,000 copies in its first days. At the same time, a huge portion of its active audience (by various estimates, up to 60% or more) consisted of Chinese gamers, who mass-purchased the game and actively participated in discussions.
What happened in update 1.0.0.12?
The developers released a major cumulative update 1.0.0.12. In addition to useful gameplay fixes (improved dialogue mechanics, economy rebalancing, etc.), text edits aimed at "inclusivity" and censorship were secretly introduced into the game, which were not detailed in the main patch notes.
Players (especially from the Chinese community) quickly discovered changes in the localization and source text:
1. Replacement of gender-related terms: The developers decided to replace the familiar, friendly, and neutral address "brother" (兄弟 / brother) in dialogues with more abstract phrases. The authors' position was that the word "brother" supposedly "implies gender" and violates the principles of inclusivity.
2. Changes to satire: The text that originally mocked "housewives from the Upper Levels" (combining social and gender satire) was rewritten. Instead, the characters were simply called "malicious people," which, in the players' opinion, killed all the signature cyberpunk humor and the context of class inequality.
Community reaction and the Steam revolt
The gaming community perceived these actions as the imposition of "gender ideology" and an inappropriate agenda. The Chinese player base was the most angered, considering the removal of the word "brother" (which in their culture is a basic friendly address, an analogue of "dude" or "friend") an absurd manifestation of Western "woke" censorship.
The game was instantly hit with review bombing. Ratings started to drop, and Steam forums filled with angry threads accusing the studio of listening not to players, but to activists.
Whose side did the developers ultimately take? (Rollback to 1.0.0.6)
The community's outrage was so powerful and avalanche-like that Questing Goose Studio feared losing its main source of revenue. Literally within a day, the developers completely capitulated to the audience.
The publisher and developers officially announced: "We are temporarily rolling back the game version to stable 1.0.0.6."
В тихой однообразной жизни всегда так бывает: каждый отдельный день бесконечно долог, но месяцы и годы мчатся с непостижимой быстротой.
I wanted to offer you some flowers, but a crown would suit a princess like you much better
Смысл жизни в том, что жизнь на тебе не заканчивается