For those unaware, previews and reviews for games typically come with certain restrictions, not showing certain segments in videos, not mentioning story beats, etc… In most cases, guidelines for games follow a similar pattern. But, sometimes, as is the case with Black Myth: Wukong, what the developer and publisher is asking and not asking those taking a early look at the game to do or say raises some eyebrows. Over the weekend, a document, sent to influencers and streamers by the marketing team, Hero Games, behind developer Game Science had a list of topics that they didn’t want covered while talking about the game.

An email sent from the Black Myth: Wukong marketing team tells content creators they must not include “feminist propaganda” or use what are called “trigger words” such as COVID-19, among other restrictions. https://t.co/jeBQGNY7gy pic.twitter.com/7zYBKx0NFI

— IGN (@IGN) August 19, 2024

The one “Do” that Hero Games wanted was to have players enjoy the game. In contrast, there are five “Don’ts” that were outlined: Do NOT Insult other influencers or players. Do NOT use any offensive language/humor. Do NOT include politics, violence, nudity, feminist propaganda, fetishization, and other content that instigates negative discourse. Do NOT use trigger words such as ‘quarantine’ or ‘isolation’ or ‘COVID-19’. Do NOT discuss content related to China’s game industry policies, opinions, news, etc.

Multiple outlets such as VGC, Eurogamer, and IGN note that they did not receive the document as it was intended for content creators who plan to cover the game at launch, as opposed to pre-launch reviewers.

This comes following allegations of numerous alleged sexist comments made by the studio’s founders and other Games Science developers over the last decade.

The marketing team Hero Games has been asked whether or not the guidelines for Black Myth: Wukong are standard for all of the games they promote, or whether they were a directive from Games Science.

Game Science has yet to comment.

Black Myth: Wukong launches on August 20 for PC and PlayStation 5. It will also come to Xbox Series X|S at a later date.