You Should Play Devotion

The real life tragedy behind the Taiwanese horror game, Devotion, is probably one of the most talked about issues in recent gaming history. You may already be acquainted with the details by now: an unflattering reference to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, was uncovered by Chinese internet sleuths in one of the game’s many talismans. This set off an irrevocable chain of events, beginning with the game’s removal from Steam, and the license of its Chinese publisher being revoked by the Chinese government for supposedly posing a threat to China’s national security. At the same time, it also sparked off a series of discussions around the precarity of releasing games for the Chinese market, as well as the creeping influence of China’s political censorship.

These may seem a lot to get into, but they still shouldn’t eclipse the horror game’s unsettling brilliance. Devotion is predominantly set in a Taiwanese apartment, and tells the tale of a man and his family: his beautiful wife who’s also a successful actress, a precocious young daughter who decided to join a children’s singing contest, and a man who’s struggling to make ends meet as a scriptwriter. It’s an atmospheric horror experience filled with references to Chinese spiritualism and folklore, while also providing a rare snapshot of life set in 1980s Taiwan. As you wander through the family’s seemingly haunted, even claustrophobic corridors of the apartment, you’ll eventually unravel the harrowing truth behind the family’s disappearance.

While Devotion still isn’t being sold on major platforms such as Steam and GOG—with the latter unexpectedly reneging from releasing the game on its stores “after receiving many messages from gamers”—you can finally purchase the game on Red Candle Games’ website after a long, two years absence from the internet.