When it comes to articles or social messages in Mandarin, caution is always required: there are many linguistic subtleties and using an automatic translator can quickly distort the words of those involved. However, according to several comments, it is impossible to go wrong with Feng Ji's big tirade on Weibo: the CEO of Game Science chouine dry after the Game Awards 2024. Indeed, although Black Myth : Wukong won the audience award as well as the title of best action game of the year, it would have deserved even more.
Feng Ji has never hidden the fact that he is very ambitious with Black Myth : Wukongbut the expectations described in his message are overconfident. “ I wrote my speech for the game of the year award two years ago, but in the end, it didn't help me! » Indeed, it was ultimately Astro Bot who won the GOTY 2024 crown at the Game Awards. “ The games nominated this year are all excellent, but I really don't understand the selection criteria behind the Game of the Year award. I came for nothing! » For nothing, apart from two trophies, which is already a lot.
If this hysterical attack is not really interesting in itself, some contextual information makes this message more interesting. First, according to the Chinese speakers who commented on the message, the automatic translation would significantly soften Feng Ji's words, which were more acidic and bitter in the original version. We will leave it to the Mandarin experts to confirm. Furthermore, this bitter comment comes as the title of Astro Bot is sometimes questioned for being a “family game” the polar opposite of Stellar Blade or Black Myth : Wukongtwo epic action titles geared towards a more adult audience.
In recent weeks, we have seen a rather annoying resurgence of debates on the nature of a “real” video game. We had already mentioned the cries of horror in front of the excellent Balatro, which, according to certain narrow minds, should not be able to claim the title of game of the year because it is not a blockbuster full of particles at 300 million dollars. Same circus with Astro Bot from fervent defenders of Black Myth : Wukong (although some of them haven't played either title, be sure). It is a kind of noisy minority which defends the antics simulator with rare devotion, and above all, by always seeking to demean other productions rather than raising their foal. We also found the same fanatics clustered around Stellar Bladewhere it was ultimately more about the sensual forms of the protagonist than the gameplay mechanics, even though it was supposed to be the new messiah of video games. It makes you wonder if we are really dealing with players or rather small-time propagandists…
Eyes bigger than your stomach?
This strange atmosphere of victimization does not contribute to defending the qualities of Black Myth : Wukongfar from it, and seeing Feng Ji take up this typology of mediocre ideas is not very reassuring. Its visually impressive action title has a series of communication blunders, between the self-censorship guide provided to Western content creators by a marketing partner or IGN's investigation into the Game Science studio which, although imperfect, raised a certain unease that hovered around the company's leaders, between accusations of misogyny and cavalier attitude towards criticism.
So obviously, despite these missteps, Black Myth : Wukong is an undeniable commercial success and no one can take that away from it. But it's a shame to see producer Feng Ji and his associates sink into a kind of cultural squabble between “real” and “fake” games, those that deserve to be rewarded because they are aimed at a mature audience and those who should politely be tossed aside because they are a little too compatible with children. It’s a retrograde posture that smells strongly of mothballs and the early 2000s.
That Feng Ji is disappointed at not having won the Game of the Year prize is understandable, but does he not attach too much importance to a ceremony whose value remains above all to be a gigantic commercial sign? And can this disappointment authorize it to attack other competing games in a passive-aggressive manner? Because it's easy to congratulate the competition before explaining that the jurors chose poorly. I think this is not very healthy. Seeing a major figure in Chinese industry victimize himself in this way because he only won two awards, and not three, after having written his own speech two years in advance, it gives a bit of an impression of seeing young Dursley grumbles in front of the Christmas tree because he has thirty-six presents instead of thirty-seven.
We can only encourage Feng Ji to moderate his comments before being recognized as China's Randy Pitchford, which would not be a very enviable position.
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