Feb 25, 2019
Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
Due to technical issues that cause unexpected crashes and among other reasons, we are pulling <Devotion> off from steam store to have another complete QA check. At the same time we'd like to take this opportunity to ease the heightened pressure in our community resulted from our previous Art Material Incident, our team would also review our game material once again making sure no other unintended materials was inserted in. Hopefully this would help all audience to focus on the game itself again upon its return.
Detention - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

Taiwanese studio Red Candle Games had a very bad weekend. After the launch of their 80s-set horror game Devotion, players noticed a scrap of paper in-game which invokes the names of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Winnie The Pooh. Xi (who looks much like the cuddly cartoon bear) being a reasonable man able to take a mild joke, Winnie The Pooh and associated properties are restricted in China – see John Oliver’s breakdown here.

The reference in the game, however innocuous, sparked a review-bombing campaign against the game by aggrieved Chinese players. This led to an apology from the studio, followed their Chinese Weibo social media account being shut down, and the removal of the game from Steam in China. Now it’s just gone altogether, globally.

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Eurogamer

UPDATE 10.44pm: As the controversy surrounding atmospheric horror title Devotion rumbles on, developer Red Candle has made the decision to remove the initially well-received game from Steam across all territories.

However, it appears the move is only temporary, with Red Candle's latest statement explaining that Devotion has been pulled, at least in part, to address "technical issues that cause unexpected crashes" and to have another "complete QA check".

"At the same time," the studio continues, "we'd like to take this opportunity to ease the heightened pressure in our community resulted from our previous Art Material Incident". It will also review all assets again, "making sure no other unintended materials was inserted in."

Read more

Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
1. Red Candle Games herein confirm the following information spreading on the Internet is incorrect.
(1) The highly-estimated sales number of Devotion
(2) Extensive implication about the game content
(3) Photoshopped statement screenshot made by the forged official account

For the official information, Red Candle Games’ Facebook account and the Steam page are the only reliable sources. We kindly remind you not to be misled by other incorrect information.

(At the moment, Red Candle Games’ official Weibo account has been shut down. But we will keep contacting Weibo officials in hope to provide an official channel with correct information to all the player.)

2. The theme of Devotion is about how cult does harm to people, leading to the tragedy caused by pure parental love. For the earlier sensitive art material incident, the whole team of Red Candle Games bears the responsibility of this awfully unprofessional mistake. It is not Red Candle’s vision to secretly project extensive ideology, nor is it to attack any person in the real world. Even if the sensitive art element was wrongfully placed before, we kindly ask you not to over interpret other game material.

3. As a game company, Red Candle Games’ only goal is to provide an impressive and good playing experience to all. However, we failed our players’ anticipation and offended many others due to the said mistake. For that, we feel awfully sorry and devastated. Again, we would like to reaffirm that the severe art material mistake is made by Red Candle Games. It has nothing to do with any of our partners. Red Candle Games take full responsibility and bear all the condemns. We sincerely hope that this end with Red Candle, and that please do not take it out on all the innocent partners.

4. It is our genuine hope that everyone can remain calm and shift the focus back to the game’s core message, which can be obtained through playing experience of Devotion. After all, it is a mistake to insert the unrelatable material to the game content. Not only does it destroy how people experience the game, but also affect many more people. It is our regret to say that this is not Red Candle Games’ original aim for game development.

5. At the moment we are in the process of business mediation. We kindly ask for everyone to remain calm and give Red Candle some time to address the incident. This will be the greatest support for us. Thank you.

Vincent Yang, Coffee Yao, Henry Wang, Light Wang, Doy Chiang and Hans Chen
Co-founders, Red Candle Games
Eurogamer

Steam's latest hit is being review-bombed for referencing a meme directed at China president Xi Jinping.

Devotion, a horror game developed by Taiwanese company Red Candle Games, had been going down a storm on Steam since its release this week, and saw a positive user reception based on thousands of glowing reviews.

But after the game was found to include a reference to the Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh meme, Chinese gamers launched a dramatic review-bomb campaign that left Devotion's user reviews rating as mostly negative.

Read more

Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
In the light of the art material incident today, on behalf of Red Candle Games, we apologize to our players. We have failed your trust and love towards Red Candle Games.

Earlier, in order to clarify the situation with you all in the first place, we released a short statement hastily. But clearly, we still owe you all a comprehensive explanation.

During the early development period, one of Red Candle's member placed the sensitive words into an art material. When the art material was made, each teammate was busy working on one's own tasks while chasing the deadline. None of the other colleagues were aware of this. It was until we received a private report made by a player on February 21 that we realized what was exactly written on that art material. Upon learning of this, we immediately replaced the art material within an hour.

The words written on the art material does not stand for Red Candle Games' stance, nor is it in any ways related to Devotion’s story and theme. However, even if this was caused by an individual behavior, as a whole, it is Red Candle Games' responsibility. For the players, streamers and media friends, we are deeply sorry that we hurt your feelings. After all, if it were not for your support, Red Candle Games wouldn't have gone so far, let along the release of Detention and Devotion. The last thing we want is to fail your trust. This is not what we visioned for, but unfortunately the damage has been made. For that, we take full responsibility. We deeply regret and are awfully sorry for the sensitive art material, and that when the incident first came out, we failed to put ourselves into your position.

Again, we apologize to our players, streamers and media friends for hurting your feelings. We would also like to take this opportunity to reaffirm that Devotion’s publisher did not know about the art material beforehand and were not involved in this incident at all. Currently our partnership has terminated. Red Candle Games will take full responsibility to compensate the relevant loss based on the contract.

Red Candle Games is created by a group of people who simply enjoy games. Since the establishment in 2015, we sincerely appreciate all of the love and feedbacks that we have received from all of you. But with the art material incident, we are sorry for our incapability in project management, and we have no excuse for making such unprofessional mistake. Currently Devotion has been taken down from Steam China, and for all the requested refunds, we are now in touch with Steam to ensure the refunds will be proceeded.

Vincent Yang, Coffee Yao, Henry Wang, Light Wang, Doy Chiang and Hans Chen
Co-founders, Red Candle Games
Feb 22, 2019
Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
When making the prototype, the team often referred to the then known internet slang as placeholder. However, due to the version synchronizing problem, not all of the placeholders were deleted properly. This is purely an accident, and we have no intention for causing harm nor hatred. The said art material has been taken down and replaced at the evening of February 21. This incident indicates the fact that Red Candle Games’ project management has failed to function. As a game company, Red Candle Games has immense room for improvement. We are deeply sorry for the trouble it caused to everyone, and that we sincerely ask for the forgiveness of our players.

Red Candle Games take full responsibility on the art material incident.
Detention - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Dominic Tarason)

There are few niches as specific as the one Red Candle Games have carved out with Detention and its successor Devotion, launched just yesterday. Both are sharp, unsettling but grounded horror stories that blend the supernatural with tales of real life in Taiwan in the not-too-distant past. While Detention was a side-scrolling adventure set in the 60s, Devotion is a first-person psychological study of a deeply religious family in the 80s. See the launch trailer below.

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Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
Hello,

We apologies for the playing inconvenience. Our team has worked overnight to fix the bugs listed below. Meanwhile, we will continue look into other unresolved issues.

Fixed bugs for v1.0.3
- The black screen crash before the logo appears
- The crash after igniting the lighter
- The crash after putting the 3 fragments on the door

Please check if your version is up to date. If not, please update the version to v1.0.3.

There are two ways to check the version of the game:
1. Open the game, check the bottom right corner on the main menu (shown as below).



2. Open the Steam Library > Right click Devotion > Click Properties > Click Local Files > Browse Local Files > Enter Devotion_Data folder > Enter Config folder > Open config.json file > The version will be shown in the file



If your version is up to date yet still encounters these issues, please report to us along with your specs info at Bug Reporting Thread

Thank you.
Community Announcements - RedCandleGames
Hello All,

The team is now tirelessly working to fix the confirmed bug on Win 7. Before the issue is solved, we've temporary removed Win 7 from the Supported System listing. We will announce further news once the bug is fixed. Thank you.

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