Indie horror developer Red Candle Games has revealed its two debut titles, Detention and Devotion, have been added to one of the world's biggest East Asian media preservation libraries, the Harvard-Yenching, which is located at Harvard University.
The independent foundation is dedicated to "advancing higher education in Asia in the humanities and social sciences, with special attention to the study of Chinese culture", and has accepted the two Taiwanese horror games into its collection for preservation.
It's an incredible achievement for an independent game, prompting the development team "to rethink the possibilities that [its] games could achieve".
Terrifying indie horror Devotion caused a stir when it released this time last year, but just seven days later it was withdrawn from sale following the discovery of an in-game poster that insulted the Chinese president. Following intense criticism and review-bombing from Chinese players, it was pulled from Steam and has not yet returned (and possibly never will).
So honored that both #Devotion and #Detention are now part of collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library. Meanwhile, for the past year we're sorry for making you worried. Rest assured we'll keep develop games with the same passion. And thank you to all who still believe in us. pic.twitter.com/qdGEODab8FFebruary 21, 2020
"So honored that both Devotion and Detention are now part of collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library," the Red Candle team tweeted in the company's first update for several months (thanks, Siliconera). "Meanwhile, for the past year we’re sorry for making you worried. Rest assured we’ll keep develop games with the same passion. And thank you to all who still believe in us.
"It is an incredible honour which belongs to not only Red Candle but also our supporters/players worldwide," the company said, adding a more detailed update on its Facebook page. "Harvard-Yenching Library, formally founded in 1928, is known as the largest Eastern Asian library maintained by any American university. As game designers, never have we thought that our works could one day be added to its prestige collection. While we truly appreciate the recognition, we had also taken this opportunity to rethink the possibilities that our games could achieve.
"For the past one year, we are sorry for making our community worried. Although the current status might not be ideal, we are still here and that nothing has changed - we are and will always develop games with the same passion. Last but not the least, we’d like to express our gratitude toward our partners, friends and families, especially a big thank you to all fans who still believe in Red Candle Games. It’s a tough year for many of us, but we will keep going, and hopefully in the future we could share more works with you all."
Reporting on the buzz generated by the horror last year, Zoe Delahunty-Light said: "Some have been quick to compare Devotion to classic horror titles like Silent Hill 2, and it’s even been mentioned in the same breath as PT," said Zoe Delahunty-Light when she previewed it for GamesRadar+ last year. "Just in case you needed even more convincing of its pedigree.
"A handful of the Steam reviews especially praise how it nails the look of a 1980’s Taiwanese apartment, while the short length (around three hours) and fact that it’s a horror walking simulator means that experiencing Devotion is more like watching a movie than playing a game, which is definitely a good thing in my book. Even seasoned game developers are appealing to the Twitterverse to play it, like, yesterday."
For more spooks and jumpscares, here's our list of the best horror games to play right now.
