A group of Hong Kong activists have developed a homemade computer game that uses virtual reality (VR) to recreate what it is like to take part in pro-democracy protests sweeping the territory.
Put together in less than a week, Liberate Hong Kong (光復香港) allows gamers to don a VR headset and dodge tear gas and rubber bullets during a nighttime clash in Mongkok, a regular scene of battles between police and protesters in the real world.
“This game will give you an experience you can’t get from reading news or watching live on TV about the protests,” said Jane Lam, one of the developers and a spokesperson for the team.
Hong Kong has been upended by five months of huge, often violent, protests seeking greater democratic rights and police accountability.
Increasingly violent clashes have broken out between protesters throwing Molotov cocktails and bricks at police, who are responding with increasing amounts of tear gas and rubber bullets.
CREATIVE OUTPUT
However, the movement has also prompted an outpouring of creativity, from so-called protest “Lennon Walls” springing up across the territory to anonymously-composed protest songs that have racked up millions of views.
Now demonstrators have taken their movement into the virtual world.
The developers said they decided to create the game after local eSports player Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung (吳偉聰) was punished by Blizzard Entertainment for shouting a pro-democracy slogan during a live-streamed interview following a competition win.
They got to work recreating a real street in Mongkok, filling it with the sounds and sights of protests, from walls and pavements daubed with slogans to the shouts of police warnings and the clouds of tear gas obscuring the neon-lit shop fronts.
The game developers — who asked to remain anonymous fearing reprisals — invited Ng to play a demo that was broadcast via Twitch, the hugely popular live-streaming platform used by gamers.
VR PARTICIPATION
“This is so real,” Ng said as he played, his avatar getting shot and arrested by police multiple times.
A reporter tried out the game at an industrial building that developers had hired out to showcase their work.
Unlike Hong Kong’s frontline protesters in the real world — who often hurl bricks and Molotov cocktails at police and trash pro-China businesses — players are not allowed to engage in violence themselves.
Instead they have to throw away incoming tear gas rounds, avoid rubber bullets using a road-sign shield or a well-timed dodge and run away when police charge.
The game, which currently lasts only around 10 minutes, was submitted to Steam, the world’s largest gaming distribution platform that hosts many amateur creations, but they did not hear back.
China’s politics can be hugely risky territory for game developers, especially studios that have a presence in the highly lucrative mainland market.
Earlier this year, Taiwan-based studio Red Candle Games pulled its popular horror film Detention from Steam after Chinese gamers spotted a hidden message lampooning Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
MARKETING
After hearing nothing from Steam for a month, the Hong Kong developers submitted their game to Itch, a less well-known platform for indie developers, where it is being offered for free.
“This is certainly political censorship,” the team said.
“Steam is trying to avoid another Detention incident and losing its market in China,” the team added.
Lam said she wanted the game to raise international awareness for Hong Kong’s protesters — and also encourage local activists to keep going after more than 20 weeks of political unrest.
“We want to emphasize this is not a game,” she said.
“We don’t want anyone to feel they have achieved something in this virtual world. We hope they can return to streets after playing this,” she added.
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