Video Game Goes Full Commie Defense By Eliminating Tiananmen Square Footage
Jose Nino
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According to a report from MCRTV, video game company Activision edited its latest game Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War to appease the Chinese Communist Party.
In a low-profile manner, Activision replaced the original game trailer with a considerably shorter version. Specifically, it removed footage from the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre that the Chinese government carried out in 1989. According to a report from the BBC, the crackdown left an estimated 10,000 people dead.
Indeed, there is a strong financial incentive for video game companies, and companies in general, to remain PC in order to cater and tap into the gigantic Chinese market.
“Activision gave no indication as to why the first trailer was removed, or even that it had happened, but according to South China Morning Post, it’s because the original video contained a brief clip of footage from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, an event that’s heavily censored in China,” according to a PC Gamer report.
Similar antics were present last year when the NBA kowtowed before the Chinese Communist Party and tried to shutdown anyone who complained about the CCP’s crackdown on Hong Kong protestors.
Since falling under Communist control in 1949, China has gone through a tumultuous economic development process. Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution teared the country apart both economically and socially speaking.
It wasn’t until reformers like Deng Xiaoping came in and introduced market reforms. Since then, China has economically boomed and emerged as one of the world’s emerging powers. Although millions of Chinese were able to get out of poverty, the country remains politically repressive. Similarly, further economic integration has only enriched its elite, who envision a Chinese state that plans to attain hegemonic status at the expense of other states.
American companies should start behaving according to American principles as opposed to chasing dollar signs in the short-term. There are times when American entities must call a spade a spade and denounce the authoritarian nature of the countries they do business with.
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