So the thing is, the publisher was a Chinese company, and CCP revoked their license after the game got pulled from Steam. It's unclear who has the rights tbh.

Nope. Can't buy it. They did release a physical deluxe boxed edition, and it was available only in Taiwan.

I think the publisher should set up a store to sell it (and their other games) themselves. A bit like Creeper World games are also sold in their own store.

Then again maybe the Chinese bots would DDoS attack that site... oh well, that is easy to fix, geo-block the whole China in the firewalls. Problem solved. (Well ok, if the bots are all over the world, then that doesn't work...)

The official site just shows an empty Steam widget under "Purchase": https://redcandlegames.com/devotion/?lang=en

Unless a new Taiwanese site pops up, it's going to be difficult to find a digital game store that doesn't bow to the Chinese dictatorship

Sorry I am not up to the news, I have no idea what CCP is.

If it is some Chinese authority, how they can control how some Taiwanese game publisher self-publishes their games?

I'm seriously hoping for a Taiwanese site that just sells everything banned in China. The most complete collection anywhere on Earth of banned-in-China goods. Any and all. It's gonna be EBIC.

The Twitter post about telling people the game won't be released because of many messages from "gamers" has been deleated btw.

EDIT: Nevermind it was just Twitter not working correctly again. It's still there.

So can't they sell it themselves, without Steam widgets etc.? I thought many (indie) game developers also sell their games directly from their own site. For instance, I recall buying Frictional Games' horror games originally from their own store, also downloading them from them. I also thought that is how Creeper World games are sold on their own site (not sure if they use Humble Store for that etc.).

I just went and purchased "Detention" by Red Candle on PSN. GoG is my favorite online digital games store but I don't think I will be buying anything more from now on.

Oh ok, now it is clearer.

While I am all for freedom of speech and farts (no need to keep them inside), what were the developers thinking? They have a Chinese publisher, yet they deliberately add an anti-Chinese government easter egg in the game?

I presume they wanted the controversy, and I guess it has worked. I didn't know about this publisher and its games before yesterday, and now I am even thinking of buying their games, without even knowing whether I'd like the games.

Also, if the publisher is Chinese whose license is now revoked... how on earth could have GOG released the game anyway, without the game's publisher? Doesn't this mean GOG couldn't release the game in the store, even if they wanted to?

Once again, you are putting words in my mouth that I never said or suggested.

Nerve my ass, I am using cold hard reason.

I tell you what. Once GOG start addressing all the issues wrong with their store, get a decent amount of servers, get a lot more games, then I might be prepared to consider they are doing well. Not to mention, seemingly rushing Cyberpunk to release for Xmas shoppers.

There are many things that regulars here can point to, that GOG has been going downhill ... not a good promotional move, as many topics here in the forum can show.

I honestly don't think GOG are doing all that well, and I always criticize them where it is due ... like with the removal of the old GOG downloader and offline installers falling way behind with updates, and various stupid policies. However I don't attack them like a fanatic who knows no reason.

I believe the story was the "easter eggs" were supposed to be an internal thing, but it somehow slipped through to release version. That does sound pretty careless to me. The hype in China was pretty high before the ban, so they kinda shot themselves.

CCP is Chinese Communist Party.

From what I remember they claimed it was leftover that wasn't supposed to stay in the game nad was left there by mistake but it could very well be an excuse.
Or pehaps they were simply naive and didn't think the government isn't as much tyrannical and won't try to destroy them for very minor silliness.

Like the other dude, you are just making things up.

We don't know that GOG have been threatened. Maybe they are just following advice from their accountants.

I know full well about bullies and how to deal with them, having done so many times myself. For it to work, you first have to be in a position of power, otherwise you are just farting into the wind, and the result to you is worse.

You are only complicit if you do nothing.

Clearly you have never dealt with bullies or you would not be so free with your advice. I suspect you have the old mindset too, that never ever worked.

Please let this game get released. I am Chinese American and I am so embarrassed. Not all of us want this. I will buy a copy myself.

How can the discussion be about the game, when your refusal to host it here isn't? Your decision not to host it here is not about the quality of the game, but is pure politics.

Nobody prevents you from blocking the game in China and selling it to the rest of the world. You censor/block games in other countries too. Which is a thing I don't like, but since you have region blocked games, you might as well make use of it and not subject all your world-wide customers to the Chinese rule.

But then again, you already bent over to Epic. Probably Tencent threatened to go back on that deal, if you release Devotion here? Is that the reason?