Free-to-play RPG Genshin Impact will prohibit players from mentioning Taiwan or Hong Kong in-game.

First discovered by journalist and translator Kazuma Hashimoto, he posted a video via Twitter (below), which demonstrated that the words are covered when published in the in-game chat.

It is no secret that tensions are high between China and the two other nations.

However, Niko Partners senior analyst Daniel Ahmad has stepped in to explain why Genshin Impact has censored Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Obey the rules

Firstly, Ahmad has pointed out that MiHoYo is a Chinese company. Not only that, but the developer and publisher of the game is based in Mainland China. As such, it is held to the rules imposed by China's laws and its games regulator, and they clearly state that titles cannot include "Anything that threatens China's national unity."

Therefore, all Chinese studios censor Hong Kong and Taiwan in all of their games.

"Chinese developed games have to comply with a ton of content, and in-game censorship rules because of these laws and regulations There is a list of banned words that cannot be used in-game / via chat functions," said Ahmad.

"Foreign developers also need to comply when publishing games in China."

Ahmad goes on to explain that companies outside China tend to have a Chinese and global version of its games to adhere to all rules.

Here is a clip I just recorded. Just in case if this changes for whatever reason here is recorded proof. The entire word "Kong" has been censored in Genshin Impact. pic.twitter.com/JCWjOEUBaf

— Kazuma Hashimoto (@JusticeKazzy_) October 6, 2020

Big impact

Genshin Impact hit PC, console and mobile devices on September 28th, and has proven to be extremely popular.

In just four days, the game managed to rack up 17 million downloads, though this number increased to 23 million by the end of its launch week.

Furthermore, the Breath of the Wild-inspired game has proven to be lucrative for MiHoYo, as it brought in $60 million in its first week.