A Chinese language online game on ‘gold diggers’ is fuelling a debate on sexism

[ad_1] <img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/c0dc/live/69ba9c00-58a9-11f0-a912-539e30409bd3.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Qianfang Studio A screengrab from the game Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator featuring six women, each in black dresses, surrounding a man in a orange-colored coat and brown pants" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Qianfang Studio The sport has been renamed following a backlash

"He is extra obedient than a canine... If solely extra of those dumb ones come alongside," boasts a lady in a brand new online game that has fuelled a debate on sexism in China.

The gamers within the live-action Revenge on Gold Diggers are male protagonists lured into relationships by manipulative girls who're after their cash - how the person responds shapes the remainder of the story.

It topped the gaming platform Steam's gross sales checklist inside hours of its launch in June however controversy rapidly adopted. Some slammed it for reinforcing insulting gender stereotypes, whereas supporters say the sport cautions folks about love scams.

So heated was the criticism that the sport's creators quietly renamed it Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator the subsequent day.

However that wasn't sufficient to undo the harm. The sport's lead director, Hong Kong filmmaker Mark Hu, has now been banned on a number of Chinese language social media platforms.

The sport's creators insist they by no means supposed to "goal girls" - quite they needed to facilitate "open dialogue about emotional boundaries and the gray zones in trendy relationship".

Xu Yikun, an artist who tried the sport and located it deeply offensive, rejects that rationale. She accuses them of "a traditional enterprise mannequin that thrives on producing content material that sparks debate and divisions".

Critics like her say the very time period "gold digger" reeks of misogyny.

"It is a label that is used, all too usually, on girls," Ms Xu says. "Sexist jokes and derogatory phrases like these have discovered their means into our on a regular basis language."

"When you've got a wealthy boyfriend, you might be known as a gold digger. If you happen to attempt to make your self look fairly, you might be known as a gold digger... Generally the label is used on you merely for accepting a drink from somebody," she provides.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9bd9/live/515ff990-588e-11f0-bbb8-1d4aad337b47.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Qianfang Studio A screengrab from the game Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator shows a man and a woman having a conversation while seated at a bar, with two glasses of liquor in front of them. The man is dressed in a blue long-sleeved shirt while the woman has a black cardigan and golden earrings on" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Qianfang Studio "Wish to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends," says one of many girls within the online game

Some gamers, nonetheless, discover the criticism overblown.

"The sport is not making an attempt to say that every one girls are gold diggers... I do not discover it focusing on both gender," says 31-year-old Zhuang Mengsheng, who used a pseudonym to talk to the BBC. "Each men and women will be gold diggers."

And but, within the recreation all of the "gold diggers" are girls. From a fresh-faced on-line influencer to a go-getting entrepreneur they're all proven scheming to get the boys to lavish cash and presents on them.

"Wish to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends," one in every of them says.

The sport has divided even native media. A newspaper from the central Hubei province stated the sport was "labelling a complete gender as fraudsters".

However Beijing Youth Day by day praised it for its "creativity", citing the monetary impression of affection scams: round 2bn yuan ($279m; £204m) in 2023, in line with knowledge from the Nationwide Anti-Fraud Centre.

"We have to put a cease to emotional fraud directly," it stated in an editorial.

Controversy apart, gross sales of the sport have continued to soar. It's now amongst China's high ten titles for the PC platform, surpassing even Black Fable: Wukong which is reportedly essentially the most profitable Chinese language recreation of all time.

"I do not get why individuals are upset about this. If you happen to aren't a gold digger your self, why must you really feel attacked by this recreation?" says a 28-year-old man.

"I really thought the sport's creators are very daring. These points [like emotional fraud] aren't broadly mentioned sufficient in China."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/a2ed/live/d69ce420-58b0-11f0-9267-3d10d9c5c6de.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Two young women sit across from each other engrossed in their smartphones at a tea shop on June 16, 2025 in Chongqing, China. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Getty Photographs Critics say the sport's very premise is sexist as a result of the "gold diggers" are all girls

Some folks on-line have urged the sport is impressed by the real-life story of a Chinese language man, often called Fats Cat on the web, who jumped to his demise final 12 months after a breakup.

His demise sparked an intense dialogue on-line, the place the time period "gold digger" was liberally used, with some accusing his ex-girlfriend of exploiting him, main him to take his life. Police have dismissed these allegations.

Girls who spoke to the BBC fear that the online game perpetuates problematic gender norms in China, the place society believes girls belong at house, whereas seeing males as the first breadwinners.

So for ladies, marrying properly has historically been perceived as extra necessary than skilled success.

Official rhetoric from the male-dominated Chinese language Communist Social gathering endorses this - President Xi Jinping has repeatedly known as on girls to embrace their roles as "good wives and moms".

The federal government has additionally cracked down on a rising pool of activists demanding gender equality.

"I really feel a recreation like that merely followers hostility between women and men," says one lady who didn't wish to be named, fearing hostility on-line.

"It casts girls, as soon as once more, because the inferior gender who should one way or the other discover methods to please males to earn their livelihoods."