Hong Kong national security police have warned against downloading a role-playing game app that they say promotes Hong Kong and Taiwanese independence.
In a statement on Tuesday, the police force’s National Security Department said Reversed Front: Bonfire – a mobile game by Taiwanese developers ESC Taiwan – promotes secessionist agendas, advocates “armed revolution” and the overthrow of the “fundamental system of the People’s Republic of China.”
The game “also has an intention to provoke hatred towards the Central Authorities and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” police said.
Anyone who publishes related content, including sharing the game online, may be accused of inciting secession and inciting subversion, both offences under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Doing so may also violate the city’s homegrown national security law, also known as Article 23, which criminalises “offences in connection with seditious intention.”
According to the description on the gaming platform Steam, Reversed Front takes players through a war to “overthrow the communist regime.” Players can assume different roles, such as Hong Kong, Tibet, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, and Mongolia.
The developers describe the communists in the game as “heavy-handed” and corrupt due to “malicious ethnic cleansing and an obstreperous military.”
The national security police said those who have downloaded the app should “uninstall it immediately” and urged the public not to provide funding for the game, for example, by making in-app purchases.
The game app was initially available on both Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store. However, it was removed from the Play Store in May for failing to ban players who made hate speech, according to Reversed Front’s social media post.
When HKFP checked at around 8pm on Tuesday, the app could no longer be found on Hong Kong’s Play Store but was still available on the App Store in the city.
