The game quickly became a success on the Steam platform when it was released in June, quickly topping sales charts. But it also came under blistering criticism for what critics charged were sexist depictions of women. The day after the backlash, the developers changed the game's name to Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator in the hopes of calming the firestorm, but that only fanned the flames.
One of the film's lead directors, Mark Hu, a filmmaker from Hong Kong, has, in the wake, been banned from multiple Chinese social media platforms. The creators responded to the criticism by saying the project intended to generate discussion about "emotional boundaries" and "grey zones in modern dating," and had not been intended to harm women.
Criticism of Misogynistic Tropes Grows
The developers' explanation for the game was denied by Xu Yikun, an artist who played it. She says it operates under a business model of creating controversy for attention. Xu sees language such as "gold digger" as having an obvious misogynistic tone. "It's a label that is wielded, far too frequently, at women," she said, adding that authors of the innumerable lists of accusations at which women are regularly made on the internet "frequently include the sin of accepting a drink."
But despite the outcry, there are certainly those who say the outrage is misplaced. "It's not as if the game is intending to say that all females are gold diggers," the 31-year-old player, Zhuang Mengsheng, said of the game, according to Reuters." I don't think it's aiming at a certain gender." But all of the game's "gold digger" characters are women, from social media influencers to businesswomen, all depicted as manipulating men to get ahead in life. "If you want to know if a man loves you? See how much he spends."
Even within the Chinese media, the game has been a source of contention. A Hubei newspaper accused it of stereotyping one gender as scammers, while Beijing Youth Daily lauded its creativity and focus, raising awareness about emotional fraud, which left victims down an estimated 2 billion yuan ($279 million) in 2023.
Larger Questions About Gender Norms in China
Whether it's a controversial game or not, it is still one of the most popular PC games in China, and last week it managed to outdo the acclaimed Black Myth: Wukong. "If you're not a gold digger yourself, why would you feel attacked?" said one 28-year-old man.
Others consider the game symbolic of more serious social problems. Some have drawn comparisons between its plotline and the whereabouts of an internet figure "Fat Cat", though they were found dead of suicide after a breakup. Some accused his ex-girlfriend of using him, an allegation police rejected.
Sehgal writes that the game promotes outdated gender roles, and women who have spoken out have said they are concerned this feeds the marginalisation women have long suffered. "Chinese society has some bias against women to stay at home, and men to be the financial quintessence." And under President Xi Jinping, official pronouncements have continued to espouse traditional roles for women in the family, with frequent entreaties to make themselves "good wives and mothers." At the same time, the government has stepped up its repression of feminist activists calling for gender equality.
"I feel a game like that just fuels the hostility between men and women," said one mother who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she did not wish to be attacked online. It depicts women, yet again, as the weaker sex who must somehow figure out how to appease men in order to make a living."
