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Sankara

Alt Account
Banned
May 19, 2019
1,311
Paris
It's incredible how much the game not only mimics PT in its game design, but also with its release now that only a rare few are able to play this gem of a game.



Text:
Greetings,

We are Red Candle Games from Taiwan. To all of our players, industry and media friends, we would like to provide an update on 'Devotion'.

(1) For the past four months, the art asset incident related to 'Devotion' has caused immeasurable harm to Red Candle Games and our partner. We would like to offer our most sincere apology to all impacted teams and personnel. Red Candle and its partner are assuming all responsibilities for the losses; we will not stop in our endeavor to prevent the damage from worsening.

(2) This incident has significantly and adversely impacted all parties. Our partner has been making every effort to assist Red Candle. While mediation is still in progress, Red Candle's co-founders have reached a unanimous decision to not re-release 'Devotion' in the near term, including but not limited to obtaining profit from sales, revision, IP authorization, etc. to prevent unnecessary misconception.

(3) As we reflect on the situation, we notice many players, industry friends, and the media are starting to understand that the incident was indeed a malfunction of project management, not a deliberate act. If, in the future, the public would be willing to view this game rationally and allow us the opportunity to rebuild trust with our players, Red Candle would reconsider re-releasing 'Devotion'.

As such, we want to apologize to the players for the wait. We are truly sorry, but please understand our decision.

Red Candle is grateful that our partner entrusted us without reservation during the game's development in the past two years. Regrettably, we failed to meet their expectations and caused them to suffer undue hardship. As the game's sole developer, Red Candle is inexcusable for this incident. We hope that our partner and related parties may be excused from further criticism.

Since Red Candle Games establishment in 2015, we have dedicated ourselves to craft the best gaming experience for our audience worldwide. In 'Devotion', its core message is about "the tragedy of a loving family twisted by the frantic belief of a religious cult."

We made a critical and unprofessional error during the game's production. It saddens us that the focus of the game has shifted drastically since the erroneous art asset was found. A revision patch was implemented immediately as we have absolutely no intent to stage a publicity stunt.

However, in the aftermath of the incident, some still possess different speculations about 'Devotion'. As regretful as the incident was, we have to bear its full consequence. We hope for a second chance in the near future. A chance to prove that, both Red Candle and its partner simply wanted to create a great game and no one wished for such incident to occur.

Rest assured, Red Candle Games will continue its passion to creativity as a game company.

Thank you for your invaluable support.

Sincerely,
Red Candle Games

Doesn't really say much about when we can expect Devotion to come back, except that it won't be released in the near term. Really sad since it's one of the best horror games that I've played in a long time.
 
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Deleted member 419

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,009
Arguably the most notable gaming news story of the year and it has flown completely under the radar compared to banal bullshit like the Anthem circlejerk. The fact that the discussion about artist's intentions and censorship in this medium revolves around anime titties and not situations like this really says it all for the gaming community at large.

And what's especially tragic is that setting aside the circumstances and controversies surrounding the game, it is a damn good game and should've been the studio's breakout hit.
 

Danteyke223

Banned
Oct 24, 2018
937
Ah cool mindless chinese government agents got pissed off. I love how all these totalitarian regimes have thin skin, remember when Winnie The Pooh got censored in trailers in Kingdom Hearts 3. Industries shouldnt pander to China especially after such shitty moves
 
OP
OP
Sankara

Sankara

Alt Account
Banned
May 19, 2019
1,311
Paris
I really wish I had got this game while I had the chance.

Red Candle didn't deserve this shit

It's one of the best horror games of all time. I need to replay it and let it sit for a while how to properly place it in my top 10, but it's definitely one of the best games this year.

Really sad that so few are able to play this or that Red Candle are unable to enjoy the sales of a creative masterpiece like this.
 

Deleted member 51789

User requested account closure
Banned
Jan 9, 2019
3,705
Really hope they're able to put it back on sale, been hearing a lot of good things about the game and I was a big fan of Detention.

They definitely didn't deserve to have to deal with all this
 

takoyaki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,677
This reads like they are under a lot of pressure, I hope they find a way to release the game again and port it to other platforms. The whole incident must have been financially devastating to a small indie studio like them. A four month absence from sale already seems like a complete overreaction, and all of this because of a couple of dumb memes.

Detention was outstanding and I'd really like to play Devotion at some point.
 

takoyaki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,677
OT, but the movie adaption of Detention is still on track for a local release on September 20. So at least some good news for Red Candle.



Looks really good. The movie is distributed by Warner, so it should see a worldwide release.
 

Gradon

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,470
UK
Arguably the most notable gaming news story of the year and it has flown completely under the radar compared to banal bullshit like the Anthem circlejerk. The fact that the discussion about artist's intentions and censorship in this medium revolves around anime titties and not situations like this really says it all for the gaming community at large.

And what's especially tragic is that setting aside the circumstances and controversies surrounding the game, it is a damn good game and should've been the studio's breakout hit.

This is something that always bothered the living hell out of me; the same can be said for Russia's laws forcing Blizzard to block the Tracer-Emily comic from being viewed in Russia. It's that kind of censorship that is the most damning, and no-one seems to care. Only uproars and 'campaigns' if it's about anime titty.

I'm really saddened what's happened to Devotion, I am primarily a console gamer so I don't really play PC games as my laptop isn't great for them; I really wanted to play this game. :/
 

Kalor

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,629
Red Candle don't deserve any of this. People complain about so called censorship but this is an actual case of it and no-one cares, instead throwing the word around in situations where it doesn't even apply like minor localization changes or boob sizes.
 

Tiggleton

Banned
Apr 25, 2019
457
The fact that the discussion about artist's intentions and censorship in this medium revolves around anime titties and not situations like this really says it all for the gaming community at large.
This is something that always bothered the living hell out of me; the same can be said for Russia's laws forcing Blizzard to block the Tracer-Emily comic from being viewed in Russia. It's that kind of censorship that is the most damning, and no-one seems to care. Only uproars and 'campaigns' if it's about anime titty.
Red Candle don't deserve any of this. People complain about so called censorship but this is an actual case of it and no-one cares, instead throwing the word around in situations where it doesn't even apply like minor localization changes or boob sizes.

I think this is all unneeded and honestly irrelevant. Also kind of circle-jerky. "Ah yes, we care about the real issues unlike those filthy weebs"
More people care about cartoon boobs than obscure chinese horror games getting pulled off Steam.
Don't get me wrong I'm mad about this too. I think it's outrageous this game is being withheld because a pseudo-dictator has thin skin.
But let's focus on that instead of complaining that people have different priorities from you.
 

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,797
It's crazy how much power Winnie the Pooh has over this game when 99% of people playing would never have noticed it and those who did would have a slight chuckle at best.
 
May 17, 2018
3,454
Goddamnit I hate this for Red Candle. Is there any way to play this game somewhere and just PayPal them the cost of the game or something?
 

Deleted member 419

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,009
I think this is all unneeded and honestly irrelevant. Also kind of circle-jerky. "Ah yes, we care about the real issues unlike those filthy weebs"
More people care about cartoon boobs than obscure chinese horror games getting pulled off Steam.
Don't get me wrong I'm mad about this too. I think it's outrageous this game is being withheld because a pseudo-dictator has thin skin.
But let's focus on that instead of complaining that people have different priorities from you.
When those "different priorities" lead to a broad shift in the discussion surrounding important issues in this medium on controversial subjects such as censorship, it is absolutely a problem that situations like this with objectively more real-world significance are marginalized in favor of people blowing a lot of hot air about how their waifus didn't make it across the pond in quite the way they wanted.

To focus on this means to call out why "this" wasn't widely reported on whereas minor localization changes to sexualized characters were. It's a large problem in video game cultural and critical discussion that needs to be addressed.
 

Tiggleton

Banned
Apr 25, 2019
457
When those "different priorities" lead to a broad shift in the discussion surrounding important issues in this medium on controversial subjects such as censorship, it is absolutely a problem that situations like this with objectively more real-world significance are marginalized in favor of people blowing a lot of hot air about how their waifus didn't make it across the pond in quite the way they wanted.

To focus on this means to call out why "this" wasn't widely reported on whereas minor localization changes to sexualized characters were. It's a large problem in video game cultural and critical discussion that needs to be addressed.

I mean this is an obscure game. That's probably why it wasn't widely reported like lootboxes in AAA games. If you want to talk about the issue of this industry still favoring the spotlight on big AAA products I think that's a more relevant discussion.

This topic isn't being marginalized in favor of other discussions on censorship. The reality those people who are complaining either a) don't know about this game or b)aren't interested.
And we're still talking about it here.

In fact my problem is that people like you are deviating away from the real discussion to shit on a group of people you don't like.
 

Deleted member 11413

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
22,961
Makes you wonder if part of the reason this isn't getting more discussion is due to how much Chinese money is in the western side of the industry these days. I know that sound's conspiratorial, but it wouldn't shock me if bigger outlets aren't talking about it due to not wanting to rock the boat (also because the game itself is niche).
 

Rendering...

Member
Oct 30, 2017
19,089
It's way fucked that a harmless political joke resulted in such ridiculous fallout.

The game was pretty awesome aside from the unnecessary and out-of-nowhere tongue ripping part.
 

Deleted member 419

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,009
In fact my problem is that people like you are deviating away from the real discussion to shit on a group of people you don't like.
What would you like to talk about then? Do you want me to re-quote my many posts in the various threads about this game criticizing the Chinese government, expressing support for Red Candle, encouraging journalists to report on the story, and telling everyone generally that the game is very good?

The only thing left to be said at this point is that this indie developer was strongarmed and decimated by a totalitarian government and its brainwashed citizens, a major censorship controversy passed by and it absolutely failed to gain any traction in our cultural mindshare because a lot of our journalistic and consumer priorities are wrong. What is this real discussion that you want to have with me? This thread is going exactly how it should go, condolences towards Red Candle and anger towards both the censors and the people who didn't give enough of a shit to recognize this was a serious issue with ramifications beyond the confines of just this one game.
 
OP
OP
Sankara

Sankara

Alt Account
Banned
May 19, 2019
1,311
Paris
Red Candle don't deserve any of this. People complain about so called censorship but this is an actual case of it and no-one cares, instead throwing the word around in situations where it doesn't even apply like minor localization changes or boob sizes.

it's ridiculous when you think about how different the situation would be if anime titties were "censored"
 
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Kinthey

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
22,310
it's ridiculous when you think about how different the situation would be if anime titties were "censored"
I'm not sure about that. When Ubisoft planned to censor rainbow six siege maps to appease Chinese laws a lot of people got mad and eventually got ubi to abandon their plan. The big difference is that companies are actually open to feedback.
 

Young Liar

Member
Nov 30, 2017
3,420
yeah, this blows. the folks at red candle are supremely talented and deserve all the support. there really ought to be more press coverage of this.
 

898

Member
Oct 27, 2017
387
They wrote something so that gives me hope they are going to continue working.
 

LiK

Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,077
The shit it got slack for was so fucking stupid as well which makes this whole situation even worse.