It has officially been a year since Red Candle Games was forced to delist its outstanding first-person psychological horror title, Devotion, and there is still no sign that it will ever return. However, Harvard University will be taking steps to ensure that the game and its legacy, will be preserved. According to a post from Red Candle’s Facebook page, the Harvard-Yenching Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts will be adding both Devotion and its predecessor, harrowing indie horror title Detention, to its collection. The library is home to one of the biggest and most carefully curated collections of historically significant East Asian art in the United States. Famously, Devotion was pulled due to outrage from Chinese players that the game contained art assets seemingly mocking Chinese president Xi Jinping, and pointing out his resemblance to Winnie the Pooh, a sensitive subject in the country. Devotion's removal led to Red Candle Games' publisher pulling all support for it, and its removal from sale on Steam. All videos of Devotion were also removed from the company’s YouTube channel, and Red Candle Games left Weibo, China's biggest social media platform. However, the inclusion of Detention in the library suggests the games are being inducted less for their controversy but for being legitimately powerful East Asian art. Both games use the actual historical backdrop of Taiwan in the 1970s and 1980s to tell their horror stories. With only ten days on the market, Devotion’s legacy has become much like P.T.'s: a game better known for its tragic cancellation more than the brilliant, thought-provoking horror experience it is. Continue Reading at GameSpot
|