By the way whenever censorship comes up, I always want to share this post. Mind this is talking about government censorship not commercial censorship.
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Chinese working in creative fields here. I didn't want to post in this thread because it's gaming forum and I didn't want to get too political, so earlier I just left the Chinese news source then left. But since this thread is still going on and it filled with bad faith responses and trolling, I'm feeling like I'm compelled to say something.
For those who thought "This might be censorship but the re-design is not bad, so it might not be a bad thing after all", I get you. It's just a game made by Chinese, enjoyed by you. They just changed some pixels and polygons on your screen and it might even enhanced your enjoyment. And even for us Chinese, it seems like it won't effect us that much either, right? It is just a Gacha.
Yes - these design changes are just minor scars for the game's creators.
But they are minor scars between thousands of cuts Chinese creators endured everyday.
You witnessed this censorship because this game hit the jackpot. It's a cash cow, the most important Chinese game in the global market ever, but it still need to bend its knees. Imaging what happen to countless smaller creators in China and the area under China's influence. You know what happen to Devotion, right? And they are not even Chinese citizens.
Chinese creators have been put in jail for: producing LGBTQ+ content, self-publishing, voicing political opinions...every "petty" things.
The horrible power that torture these creators, and the power that made MiHoyo changing some pixels, is the SAME THING. Genshi have it easy, because it's making money, and it earns reputation for China around the world.
About what's "an actual censorship", I can tell you how Chinese censorship works. I knew Gaming Era debated about Chinese censorship many times. It usually went like this:
A:"Chinese game can't have blood and bones in it!"
B:"Well, here's a,b,c...many Chinese games I found that have blood and bones in it. What you heard is rumor. Chinese government isn't really that bad."
I facepalmed every time when I read discussion like this. It's based on the wrong assumption that censorship is "law". But no, it's wrong. Law is: you can't do such and such things, they are against the law, so you'd be fine if you don't do those bad things. It's not how censorship works.
Yes, there some elements we Absolutely can't put in our works. You know those stuff. Like talking about certain square, Taiwan,Uighur, some dear leaders...
If these are "rules" all there is, then things would be far easier. But we have more complex things to deal with.
In reality, It is more like:
1.Absolute power abusers hold the red line.
2.They won't tell you where the red line ends.
3.They will punish you if you cross the red line but won't tell you what is exactly wrong.
4. And they can and they will move the red line however they want.
So, low-cut collar is allow or not? How much skins can we show? No no, THERE ARE NO RULES. Only rules are their orders are ABSOLUTE. You need to self-censored to fit their demand.
As a creator we always got vague "order" from bureaucracy like these:
"Have more patriotism!" "Not positive enough!"
OK. Then how to do it? Well you better figured yourself, otherwise you are in big trouble. It leads to horrible overly self-censored.
Last but not least: if you think Chinese government do this to lessen the objectification of woman, you are delusional. Woman's living condition in China is dire. The government official declared feminism is "corrupted western value".
This is a recent pivotal example.
So. If you're enjoying Genshi Impact, please continuing doing it, it's good for the developers. If you think these costume changes are visual appealing, it's still fine, you can enjoy it whatever you want.
But PLEASE remember you're witness a tiny display of absolute corrupted power and people are suffering for it. Just don't be like "well, sometimes censorship do some good things then", because it's insulting too those who suffer.
Sorry for the long rant.
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