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

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 — 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 ladies 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 following day.

However that wasn’t sufficient to undo the injury. 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 meant to “goal ladies” – quite they needed to facilitate “open dialogue about emotional boundaries and the gray zones in fashionable courting”.

Xu Yikun, an artist who tried the sport and located it deeply offensive, rejects that rationale. She accuses them of “a basic 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 ladies,” Ms Xu says. “Sexist jokes and derogatory phrases like these have discovered their manner into our on a regular basis language.”

“You probably have a wealthy boyfriend, you might be referred to as a gold digger. When you attempt to make your self look fairly, you might be referred to as a gold digger… Typically the label is used on you merely for accepting a drink from somebody,” she provides.

“Need to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends,” says one of many ladies within the online game

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 — “Need to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends,” says one of many ladies within the online game

Some gamers, nevertheless, discover the criticism overblown.

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

And but, within the recreation all of the “gold diggers” are ladies. From a fresh-faced on-line influencer to a go-getting entrepreneur they’re all proven scheming to get the lads to lavish cash and items on them.

“Need to know if a person loves you? See how a lot he spends,” one in all them says.

The sport has divided even native media. A newspaper from the central Hubei province mentioned the sport was “labelling a whole gender as fraudsters”.

However Beijing Youth Every day praised it for its “creativity”, citing the monetary influence 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 immediately,” it mentioned 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 probably the most profitable Chinese language recreation of all time.

“I do not get why persons are upset about this. When you 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 extensively mentioned sufficient in China.”

Critics say the sport’s very premise is sexist as a result of the “gold diggers” are all ladies

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. — Critics say the sport’s very premise is sexist as a result of the “gold diggers” are all ladies

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

His loss of life 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 ladies 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 Celebration endorses this – President Xi Jinping has repeatedly referred to as on ladies 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 girl who didn’t need to be named, fearing hostility on-line.

“It casts ladies, as soon as once more, because the inferior gender who must one way or the other discover methods to please males to earn their livelihoods.”