--- title: "China Replaces PUBG With Bizarre, Propaganda-Filled Clone" description: "At roughly the same time blockbuster battle royale shooter PUBG disappeared for Chinese gamers, a new government friendly version of the game was announced." date: "2019-05-08" modified: "2019-05-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-propaganda-pubg-clone" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "censorship" - "china" - "propaganda" - "the digest" - "video games" --- # China Replaces PUBG With Bizarre, Propaganda-Filled Clone ![At roughly the same time blockbuster battle royale shooter PUBG disappeared for Chinese gamers, a new government friendly version of the game was announced.]() *\Image: Tencent/Weibo\* ## Pea Shooter Chinese game developer Tencent just tried to pull off an incredibly bold sleight-of-hand trick — with laughable results. At roughly the same time blockbuster battle royale shooter Public Unknown's Battle Grounds, better known as PUBG, [suddenly disappeared]() for [tens of millions]() of Chinese gamers, a new near-carbon copy of the game was announced called "Game for Peace." But while the government-friendly Game for Peace shares plenty of similarities with PUBG, it sounds like a bowdlerized propaganda piece. "I’m going to die of laughter,” a Weibo user said of the game, [according to *Reuters*](). "When you shoot people, they don’t bleed, and the dead get up and wave goodbye!" ## Opium of the People The news shows how the Chinese government sees potential in pushing its ideology through video games. [Last month](), China introduced strict video game rules, outlawing gambling and excessive violence. Tencent is trying to position "Game of Peace" as an entirely new game, despite of the fact that Chinese gamers will be able to [port over characters]() from PUBG. The company told *Reuters,* though, that "they are very different genres of games." Game for Peace replaces one of the most successful video games in recent history — and perhaps in the history of video games as a whole. In December 2017, PUBG set a new record for the [most simultaneous players](). **READ MORE:** [Tencent pulls blockbuster game PUBG in China, launches patriotic alternative]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on video games:** *[Hellishly Hard New Game Is Specifically Designed to Confound AI]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()