Chinese game Everyone Hit The Traitors lets players attack Hong Kong protesters

A new Chinese video game centres around attacking anti-Beijing Hong Kong activists after months of increasingly violent protests.

China is ramping up the anti-protest propaganda with a new browser-based game where players can hit Hong Kong “traitors” with bats.

In Everyone Hit the Traitors, players can assault pro-democracy protesters and grotesque caricatures of known activists with weapons like bats and shoes by repeatedly tapping on them.

The free game opens with Chinese text indicating that “Hong Kong is part of China, and this can’t be meddled with by outside powers”, the South China Morning Post reported.

The title screen for Everyone Hit The Traitors. Picture: dalaoshu.net

Everyone Hit the Traitors also shows comic-style cartoons of Western influencers rewarding protesters with cash for killing cops or committing suicide, Vice News reported.

The game does not feature credits – so the game’s origins are unclear – and nothing directly connects it to the ruling Chinese Communist Party, Vice reported.

China’s state-owned news organisation Global Times published a glowing news story about the game, claiming it has been popular on social media, the Morning Post reported.

Gamers can attack protesters with their hands, shoes or a bat – each can inflict different levels of damage. Picture: dalaoshu.net

The game seems to be a response to Liberate Hong Kong, where player activists dodge tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to avoid arrest. Liberate Hong Kong developers hope to release the game on gaming store Steam, where gamers can also soon play a pro-Hong Kong visual novel called Karma.

《光復香港》開發團隊：「係一種體驗，而非一款遊戲。現時停止更新及開發，直至贏左才會繼續」 #光復香港 #VR版 #Steam #體驗 #試玩 詳細內容： https://unwire.hk/2019/10/25/vr-librate-hong-kong/

Posted by UNWIRE.HK on Thursday, 31 October 2019

Both of the pro-Hong Kong games have been submitted to Steam for approval but are still waiting for release because of “controversial and potentially illegal content”, Gizmodo reported.

Western-looking characters giving money to Hong Kong protesters. Picture:dalaoshu.net

DC Comics also recently pulled a Batman poster after Chinese supporters said it supported anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Chinese game Everyone Hit The Traitors lets players attack Hong Kong protesters