Sexually suggestive facial expressions curse NetEase’s Harry Potter game in China
- Gamers said that female characters consistently made facial expressions that were similar to anime pornography
- NetEase apologised on Tuesday and said it would fix the problem and investigate the situation
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Chinese gaming and e-commerce company NetEase apologised on Tuesday afternoon after its new mobile Harry Potter game received backlash for reportedly featuring sexually suggestive women characters.
In the game Harry Potter: Magic Awakened , a female character’s reactions during a fight appeared similar to the sexually exaggerated facial expressions common in anime pornography. Male game characters did not react in the same way.
“I did not believe it when others brought up this problem, but when I logged in and looked carefully, it made me want to puke,” one said on Weibo.
The studio under NetEase that developed the game said it would launch a thorough investigation and fix the problem.
“The issue has caused displeasure among players, especially our female players. For that, we sincerely apologise,” the company said in a statement.
NetEase stressed that it did not create the sexual innuendo intentionally, and the studio said it respects every female gamer.
The studio said the error resulted from poor 3D modelling. “Both male and female characters have this abnormality, but when designing female characters, we gave them more bone joints and more exaggerated facial expressions, which is why the female facial features stand out from the males,” the statement said.
That explanation was met with scepticism by users.
“Who made this mistake and how did it get past reviews and into the official version?” one person asked.
Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was launched on iOS, Android and PC on the mainland in September. Developed by NetEase and Portkey Games, it is a combat game based around collectible gaming cards.
Players create their characters, go through various famous scenes from the saga – such as the sorting hat ceremony – and can invite friends to play along with them.
The game has been a success, topping the iOS charts for a week when it debuted, and it generated nostalgic conversations on Chinese social media.
The Harry Potter universe has been popular in China since the first novel was published in the country in August 2000, three years after the English version.
Besides the sexual innuendos, the game received other complaints, such as that first-year students could practise “unforgiveable curses”, which the books describe as powerful and sinister spells.
Others complained about a glass ceiling for players who did not want to pay to reach a higher level or receive special cards.
“It is not a game for the fans, and NetEase does not understand Harry Potter,” one player said.
