To keep people indoors, copies of an erotic video game are being given out for free in China

To keep people indoors, copies of an erotic video game are being given out for free in China
PHOTO: Kagami Works via Steam

As the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak continues to rage on in China, its citizens have to keep safe by staying indoors during city-wide lockdowns. 

But just in case anyone gets tempted to dismiss the whole avoid-all-contact-and-travel advisory (because close contact is generally how a viral infection spreads, FYI), one Chinese video game developer has a rather… titillating way to keep folks happy at home. 

Kagami Works is giving out free copies of their video game Mirror to gamers in China. It just so happens that Mirror is a bishōjo game — in other words, a genre centred on interactions with attractive virtual women. 

In case we’re not making it clear enough, yeah, it’s a steamy, erotically charged video game filled with scantily clad anime women (they’re not all human) in various manners of poses and outfits. If the objectification of women appeals to you, this game would be an entire buffet. 

So you can totally see how Mirror can keep cooped-up horny lads happy for hours. Hey, at least it’ll keep them indoors. 

In a blog post titled “Wuhan, We’re With You”, the developers noted that they’re giving away 160,000 copies of their game via the Steam digital distribution service to keep people company at home. To acquire Mirror, one would have to key in their phone number (only Chinese numbers can apply) on a separate site before activating the download code on Steam. 

“The year has just started and we're all facing challenging situations,” Kagami Works wrote. “Please accept our gift and stay strong!” 

The plot is this: you have a magic mirror that can access “the world of the beauties”, where players meet various busty female characters and best them in a tile-matching game. Defeat the women and I suppose you can do saucy things to them? Problematic, I know. There are some story-driven elements to the game, but come on, boys aren’t playing Mirror for thought-provoking literature.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBu_NGdUHus[/embed]

With a death toll of nearly 500 so far, the coronavirus has made Chinese citizens total homebodies, whether they like it or not.

Popular office apps like DingTalk and WeChat Work in China crashed temporarily earlier this week due to a surge of people working remotely. Online games have seen millions of downloads as folks find ways to entertain themselves in self-quarantine. Those who want to stay fit are relying on Nintendo’s exercise video game Ring Fit Adventure, a demand that scalpers are taking advantage of by selling the sets at twice its normal retail price. 

ilyas@asiaone.com

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