Earlier this morning, Taiwanese studio Red Candle Games announced that its game, Devotion, would be re-released on PC via GOG on Dec. 18 for $16.99 / €13.99. The game was pulled from Steam last year because it supposedly contained a message mocking General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping. This led to its Chinese publisher, Indievent, getting its business license revoked by the Chinese government.
However, in a sudden turn of events, GOG stated that it would no longer be publishing Devotion on its storefront. The exact reason is unknown, but it is speculated that GOG does not want to lose the ability to do business in the lucrative Chinese PC gaming market. Red Candle Games has not commented on this new update yet.
Earlier today, it was announced that the game Devotion is coming to GOG. After receiving many messages from gamers, we have decided not to list the game in our store.
— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) December 16, 2020
Devotion did get a physical release in Taiwan earlier this year, as well as added to the Harvard-Yenching Library for preservation purposes.
GOG is a subsidiary of CD Projekt, which also owns the studio CD Projekt Red. This isn’t the only controversy involving CD Projekt this week. The recent launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and the backlash surrounding consumers and games media have put the studio in the spotlight.
It’s currently unknown when, where, and if Devotion will be published again, as Red Candle Games stated last year that it is not returning to Steam any time soon.
