Released in February 2019 to universal praise, Taiwanese horror Devotion only spent a matter of days on Steam before it was removed due to a controversial depiction of Chinese president Xi Jinping. Since then it's had a super limited physical release unavailable outside Taiwan, and GOG almost released it last year but then didn't, due to receiving "many messages from gamers."
The good news is that the game is now available digitally, direct from studio Red Candle Games. Devotion is available for $17 for both Windows and Mac, or you can add the soundtrack for a total of $20.68. The studio's previous horror Detention is also available on the site, and it's all DRM-free.
Hello, Red Candle e-shop is now online. https://t.co/smmZxHj7zQ#返校Detention, #還願Devotion and our future projects will all be on e-shop in DRM-free format.We hope to provide a direct and simple purchasing channel for players who’re interested in our games. pic.twitter.com/1SxzBZSiyWMarch 15, 2021
The site currently seems a bit glitchy for those outside of the US—I'm based in Australia and am getting a 404 error when clicking through to purchase, but some users on Resetera have been able to purchase the game.
If you haven't followed the story, Devotion was review-bombed by Chinese players shortly after release due to an unfavourable reference to China's president. Xi Jinping is often compared mockingly to Winnie the Pooh, and the game featured an image of that character with the word 'moron' in a manner that many considered a fairly unambiguous slight. Not long after the game disappeared, Red Candle's Chinese publisher had its business license revoked.
It's brilliant to see the game available: hopefully it'll stick around.
