Caixin
Caixin Global – Latest China News & Headlines

Home >

ABOUT US

CX Tech is Caixin Global's real-time tech news portal, featuring 24-hour news, short-form analysis, and roundups from business and tech media in China.

Patriotic Tencent Game Tops Charts Ahead of 70th Anniversary Celebrations

By Bloomberg / Sep 30, 2019 01:26 PM / Society & Culture

Photo: VCG

Photo: VCG

(Bloomberg) — Tencent Holdings’ homage to modern China has topped the gaming charts days after its debut, riding a groundswell of patriotism as the Communist Party prepares to celebrate 70 years in power.

“Homeland Dream,” the world-building title akin to the iconic “SimCity” of yesteryear, has become the most downloaded free game on the Chinese Apple iOS store since its Sept. 24 launch, beating out money-spinners like Tencent’s own mainstay “Honour of Kings.” The title — developed in partnership with the state-run People’s Daily — lets players build a virtual metropolis from scratch while collecting cartoonish images of Communist slogans, national landmarks and politically tinged buzzwords such as “One Country, Two Systems.”

The government is prepping to celebrate on Tuesday the 70th birthday of the People’s Republic of China, at a time it’s grappling with major challenges to its authority from unrest in Hong Kong to a worsening economy buffeted by U.S. tensions. To whip up nationalistic fervor, the country plans to screen a string of patriotic films and televise a parade of military might through the heart of Beijing.

“Homeland Dream” was Tencent’s latest attempt to cozy up to a government increasingly intolerant of its bread-and-butter business of gaming. The title was unveiled last month at the country’s largest gaming expo along with another patriotic offering in partnership with the government of Guangdong province, its home base. Following a bruising 2018 crackdown, Tencent in May swapped its popular Battle Royale shooter “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” with a gore-free version that lionized the Chinese military. The revamp, “Peacekeeper Elite,” could generate $1 billion of gross revenue by the end of this year, Niko Partners estimated in June.

As of Monday, Homeland Dream had garnered an App Store rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 from nearly 5,000 reviews. But it’s not uncommon for game studios to benefit from fake downloads and ratings: Homeland Dream has dozens of nearly identical or irrelevant reviews giving it five stars.

Contact editor Matthew Walsh (matthewwalsh@caixin.com)

Share this article
Open WeChat and scan the QR code