China announced new video game legislation back in August designed to limit the amount of time minors can play online games like League of Legends. Now, the country has reportedly slowed its video game approval process as well and called for a need to avoid games with a "wrong set of values," including too much violence and effeminate men. While this may sound odd, China has shown a markedly negative attitude towards flamboyant male characters in the past, such as League of Legends character Taric.
It could be argued that China has one of the hardest stances toward video games in the world, as the new video game regulations allowing Chinese minors to play online games for just three hours a week demonstrate. China has previously required developers to remove skeletons and LGBT+ content from games before allowing them to be released in the country, but this is the first time negativity toward effeminate men has been made official policy.
Reportedly, authorities have ordered gaming companies and platforms to examine new games more closely and remove obscene and violent content as well as content that encourages unhealthy tendencies like money-worship and effeminacy. These new guidelines also call for potential monopolies to be resisted, for game design that encourages addiction to be avoided, for new rules about livestreaming, and for new restrictions on ads involving celebrity endorsement. While these new guidelines are going into effect, Chinese cryptominers are reportedly selling high-end GPUs for cheap.
Apparently, the crackdown against effeminate men in video games stems from a perception that effeminate men are physically weak and emotionally fragile, making them unable to defend the nation from threats. It's interesting that they appear to extend this to Taric, the Shield of Valoran, a long-time member of the League of Legends roster known for his two, equally fabulous looks--both of which were replaced by a more standard, heavily armored look in China that also gives him a more severe expression.
Whether he's sporting gorgeous gem-studded armor or a deep V-neck and crystal accessories, Taric has been a durable frontline healer since 2009, and Riot recently appears to have confirmed that he is bisexual. This has not kept Taric from vowing to defend the whole League of Legends setting against otherworldly threats, an impressive ambition even among the rest of the League of Legends champions.
Allegedly, some Chinese leaders may perceive gaming as causing or contributing to a softening of character in the nation's young men. Whether or not there is any evidence for this conclusion currently appears to be unclear. These beliefs may help gamers understand why Nintendo is the video game market leader in China.
League of Legends is currently available on PC.
Source: PCGamer