By AFP and Focus | 2025-06-17

HONG KONG, China -- Hong Kong police have warned that downloading a mobile game in which players can attempt to overthrow a stand-in for China's Communist Party could constitute a national security crime, as it vanished from Apple's local App Store and Google Play on June 11.

This marks the first time Hong Kong police have publicly condemned a game app, signaling a broadening of digital censorship since the 2019 anti-extradition protests.

On June 10, the Hong Kong Police National Security Department said that the Taiwan-made mobile game "Reversed Front: Bonfire," "under the guise of a game," promotes Taiwan and Hong Kong independence and advocates "armed revolution."

The department took action with the approval of Secretary for Security of Hong Kong Chris Tang under the national security law to restrict access to the game's digital content, it said.

The game is meant to overthrow China's fundamental system and incite hatred toward both the central and Hong Kong governments, the police said.

Tang described the game as "poisonous" to youth and accused its creators of malicious intent, RTHK-Hong Kong News reported June 13.

'Liberate Hong Kong'

The game, developed by a Taiwan-based company, became available in April.

Users can choose to "pledge allegiance" to entities such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet and Uyghur groups, with the objective to "overthrow the Communist regime."

For example, if players select the Hong Kong faction, their command center is called the "Hong Kong Provisional Government," and one character wears a slogan that reads "Liberate Hong Kong," according to the game's website.

Although the game is set in an alternate history, its description reads: "This game is a work of NONFICTION. Any similarity to actual agencies, policies or ethnic groups of the PRC (People's Republic of China) in this game is INTENTIONAL."

Downloading the game could result in players being charged with possessing seditious material, while making in-app purchases might be considered providing funding to the developer "for the commission of secession or subversion," Hong Kong Police warned.

Recommending the game could constitute the offense of "incitement to secession."

While players technically have the option to "lead the Communists to defeat all enemies," the game positions the Communists as the antagonists.

The Communists are described as "heavy-handed, reckless and inept" and are accused of "widespread corruption, embezzlement, exploitation, slaughter and defilement."

Many of the other playing roles correspond to flashpoint issues for Beijing -- including self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, and Xinjiang, where it has denied accusations of abusing the human rights of the minority Muslim Uyghurs.

OpenAI earlier in June said it had detected and banned a number of "likely China-origin" accounts targeting Reversed Front with negative comments.

"The network generated dozens of critical comments in Chinese about the game, followed by a long-form article claiming it had received widespread backlash," said OpenAI.

On June 11, Apple appeared to have removed the game from the Hong Kong version of the App Store, after it had been available the day before, an AFP reporter saw.

It was not available on Hong Kong's Google Play a day before, local media reported.

In response, the game's developer posted on social media using the phrase "Thanks, Chancellor, for the arrows," a tongue-in-cheek reference implying that the police's attention had ironically helped publicize the game.

The post also included a screenshot showing a spike in search traffic following the police announcement, suggesting it had drawn greater public interest.

Security crackdown

Hong Kong's vibrant civil society and political opposition have all but vanished since the imposition of the national security law in 2020.

"The Hong Kong police's actions demonstrate how Hong Kong's democratic freedoms have been controlled by the Chinese Communist Party," Kuo Hao Fu, a player of the game in Taiwan, told the Associated Press.

"When even this level cannot be tolerated, it completely destroys creative freedom in gaming," he said.

This crackdown on a mobile game is part of a wider trend as the Hong Kong government steadily adds national security provisions across various sectors.

In June, authorities introduced new clauses in restaurant licenses, allowing them to revoke licenses if they deemed any activities dangerous to national security.

They added similar requirements to social worker registrations in 2024. In the film sector, national security clauses regarding airing rights have been in effect since 2021.

These measures mean that authorities may withdraw licenses across these sectors if licensees or their staff engage in conduct considered prejudicial to national security.