Life is Strange: True Colors is being review-bombed because of a flag

[midian182]

A hot potato: Life is Strange: True Colors, the latest entry in the long-running series, is getting review-bombed on Steam. The hate isn't being directed at the gameplay, story, or other elements but stems from the inclusion of a seemingly innocuous flag.

Life is Strange: True Colors has earned a Very Positive rating from its 1,937 reviews so far, thanks to 87% of them praising the game. Looking at the negative reviews shows that the majority are written in simplified Chinese.

The reason behind the Chinese users' anger is the inclusion of a symbol banned in their country. On the main street of the game's Haven Springs setting is a shop called Treasures of Tibet, which displays a Tibetan flag prominently outside the store.

The flag causing all the controversy

For those who don't know, Beijing considers Tibet to be a breakaway province and claims it is part of China. As such, China has banned the Tibetan flag for being a symbol of independence. It's a political minefield for many westerners; Fast and Furious star John Cena recently apologized for calling Tibet a country.

"Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet have been Chinese territories since ancient times. No matter how the obsolete think, they will eventually return to the mainland.I suggest that NEETs read more books, stop being stupid, and find a job to support themselves.Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet is part of China forever," writes one Steam user.

This isn't the first time Chinese Steam users have reviewed-bombed a game for political reasons. Horror title Devotion was singled out for referencing a meme that compared president Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh—something that got the lovable bear banned by Chinese censors in 2017.

Other examples of previous review-bombing include Total War: Rome 2 for increasing the frequency at which female generals appear, the Metro games for Exodus' first-year exclusivity deal, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider going on sale too soon after launch.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/91212-life-strange-true-colors-review-bombed-because-flag.html

 

[gigantor21]

Oh, give me a break...

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The #woke creators must have forgotten about One China. How dare they disrespect another culture!!1! They must be #CANCELLED!!!

I do look forward to hwo the creators respond. Will they submit to China and change the flag to avoid further outrage, complete with a tweeted apology about how much they respect Winnie the Pooh? Or will they....who am I kidding they're gonna change this right quick.

 

[Hexic]

Admittedly, China has excelled at brainwashing their general population. A forced annexation really doesn’t hold much weight, unfortunately.

 

[koblongata]

So, life is stranger in China...

 

[Geralt]

Those people have no life. Stupid attitude.

 

[DukeJukem]

Someone should make a mod where the flag sets on fire

 

[NightAntilli]

Humans are petty.

 

[bviktor]

Just say no to China.

 

[Sausagemeat]

We all laugh but China does look like it’s about to invade a bunch of places. Apparently several companies in Taiwan are moving to other parts of the world.

But dont worry, I’m sure Joe Biden will keep the Chinese in check..

 

[psycros]

I hope everyone realizes that the majority of these reviews are written by paid Chinese agents. They have buildings full of online propagandists.

 

[Stingy McDuck]

They should change the flag, and put a Winnie the Pooh poster somewhere.

 

[defaultluser]

We all laugh but China does look like it’s about to invade a bunch of places. Apparently several companies in Taiwan are moving to other parts of the world.

Which companies, specifically?

China didn't invade Taiwan 25 years ago,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis

They would also have trouble putting boots on the ground (if they wanted to seize anything strategic, like TSMC thah would require overwhelming manpower.)

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/25/taiwan-can-win-a-war-with-china/

And if they lit it up with nukes, they would just be auto-starting WW3 (even if you think Biden lacks balls, there would be unprecedented response to the first use of nukes in the post ww2 era!) What makes this even more pointless, if you nuke all those high-precision fabs and factories (takes years to fix them all)

 

[Beerfloat]

The people who join in with this kind of review bombing think of themselves as patriots.

Patriots are often not helpful.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Which companies, specifically?

China didn't invade Taiwan 25 years ago,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Taiwan_Strait_Crisis

They would also have trouble putting boots on the ground (if they wanted to seize anything strategic, like TSMC thah would require overwhelming manpower.)

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/25/taiwan-can-win-a-war-with-china/

Why are you defending China? There have been several standoffs with the US over Taiwan in the past. And no they didnt invade Taiwan 25 years ago, nobody here said they did. It’s no secret that the Chinese believe that Taiwan is theirs. With a weak USA it’s not unreasonable to speculate that the Chinese may make a grab. The reason why they would require overwhelming manpower is because Taiwan is defended by the USA. They effectively seized Hong Kong last year, the Chinese empire is once again in expansion.

 

[defaultluser]

Why are you defending China? There have been several standoffs with the US over Taiwan in the past. And no they didnt invade Taiwan 25 years ago, nobody here said they did. It’s no secret that the Chinese believe that Taiwan is theirs. With a weak USA it’s not unreasonable to speculate that the Chinese may make a grab. The reason why they would require overwhelming manpower is because Taiwan is defended by the USA. They effectively seized Hong Kong last year, the Chinese empire is once again in expansion.

\when did I ever start defending China?

I'm saying they talk big (think a big bully) , but are never likely to go through with something as complex and expensive to their pocketbooks as a Tiawense invasion.

Hong Kong is a lot easier to seize than an island nation 100 miles away...and they have a direct economic benefit to taking Hong Kong: it has been used for smuggling for decades!

But yes - **** China, and it's easily-brainwashed populace! I love the fact taht they put this in the game!

 

[Sausagemeat]

\when did I ever start defending China?

I'm saying they talk big (think a big bully) , but are never likely to go through with something as complex and expensive to their pocketbooks as a Tiawense invasion.

Hong Kong is a lot easier to seize than an island nation 100 miles away...and they have a direct economic benefit to taking Hong Kong: it has been used for smuggling for decades!

But yes - **** China, and it's easily-brainwashed populace! I love the fact taht they put this in the game!

Well I hope you’re right about them. Personally I wouldn’t be feeling as comfortable if I lived in Taiwan!

 

[Porkous]

Well. Indeed, China is an old culture. Probably some belief is going on on their side vs west side, of course no one would like to make fool of your own country, since each individual has no saying in the whole scheme of things as a scale. Probably they felt offended as if the west is trying to separate something they considered to be their business, but in fact it exacerbate the way the west thinks the Chinese are one mind cult controlled by the communists. China is one freaking scary country if you ask me, because they are so many, and so united, is enough to move one leaf and a hurricane would trigger (the butterfly's effect). On the other hand, the west is scary because everything is so to the wills of the individual and the masses that make the majority of the whole.

 

[Loli Pop Carbon]

This is what happens if people cant differ reality and fiction.... pathetic

 

[SkinjaBread Man]

Wow, cancel culture at its finest, NOW WITH POLITICAL BACKING!

the way the chinese treat these other countries is horrible.

time for less reliance on China economically for a lot of countries.

 

[captaincranky]

As I understand it, the British had a 99 (?) year lease on Hong Kong, which expired. And while the Chinese pretended they were going to take a hands off approach, Hong Kong is simply too affluent to leave alone. If only for the fact it sends the message to the Chinese people, "look boys and girls, capitalism works, and works extremely well".