Controversial FMV Chinese Game is Getting all the Worst Kind of Attention

"Pact Between Us" is about a brother, and his little sister...

"Pact Between Us" is being accused of inappropriately portraying an "ambiguous" relationship between a step-brother and sister, using real actors who are minors.

*P.S. UPDATE: A couple of days after the publishing of this article, the Steam page for the game was updated with a new trailer and screenshots. All feature adult actors and there's no visual mention of minors anymore.*

Let's try to unpack what's happening:

*I didn't play the game. The following is based on my quick research*

-The story premise of the game (available on Steam) is that of a couple of step-siblings who lose their parents, and it's then up to the older brother to take care of his little sister...

-The game is called "我和未来有个约定" in Chinese, which roughly translates as "Me and Future have a pact". "Future" being the name of the little sister.

-The devs (反网暴) already stated that all scenes using minors were produced with the consent and supervision from their parents, and they refute accusations of vulgar or inappropriate content in their game. The Steam page of the game even includes the following statement:

Statement from the developer on the game’s Steam page

-While the game apparently never clearly crosses any "hard lines", what is there seems to be enough for many people to complain (online) about its content and portrayal of minors.

-Among some multiple-endings available, some allegedly conclude with some kind of love story between the siblings...
*Spoiler Alert: apparently, by the end of the story, the sister is already 18 years old and portrayed by an older actor.*

-The game is available on Steam, however it does not have a publishing license in China.
Even though it is 100% China-Made, like most PC/console games played by Chinese consumers, it is not officially available in the country. It is however available nonetheless through Steam, which is widely used by gamers in the country.

While this game in particular is (still) not very well known, it exists within a booming trend of FMV Chinese games that has been developing in recent years. Most of them dating sims, but there's also other genres, such as horror and more.

I wrote about this trendy phenomenon before, and its cultural impact: here, and here.

I wrote about a major FMV game that went on to become a hit, and also about the cultural and societal implications of this trend.

As I mentioned, the game has fueled some discussions online within the “Chinese internets” mostly. I feel like I have to emphasize, however, that this is not a major controversy widely discussed among the general population!

The game has been discussed within its niche and relatively obscure online communities. Enough still for the developers to publicly react and for sales of the game to see a visibly boost, even if just slightly.