The comment poked fun at Monkey King’s lore.
IGN France posted an apology after making a post that poked fun at Monkey King's lore from an upcoming title, Black Myth: Wukong. The account has since deleted the post. In the apology, IGN France stated that it will no longer make any comments regarding the game without input from experts.
It seems that a little joke on the Black Myth Wukong trailer has angered the community. Although mixed with ignorance about the myth, it had no ulterior motive and there was no desire to offend. It was therefore removed and IGN France apologizes to people shocked by the remark. To avoid this kind of inconvenience in the future, we will no longer cover the game if we cannot verify the comments made on it by an expert.
IGN France's comment on Monkey King in Black Myth: Wukong
After the launch of Black Myth: Wukong's pre-order CG trailer for PlayStation, IGN France jumped in on the hype. On Twitter/X, the company posted a screenshot of Monkey King pulling out a needle (or a miniature version of his staff) out of his ear. IGN France joked about the scene, "Isn't it a little dangerous to put your magic stick that grows in your ear? It's not a cotton swab."
This comment received backlash, especially from the Chinese community. It especially made fun of Monkey King's lore where he keeps his staff inside his ear.
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An explanation to Monkey King's lore
Monkey King is a religious figure from Chinese beliefs. He became known from the 16th-century Chinese novel "Journey to the West". The video game Black Myth: Wukong attempts to depict the character accurately to its lore.
One of the most known facts about Monkey King is how he is able to resize his staff. When he's not using it, Monkey King will shrink it to the size of a needle and keep it inside his ear. However, there are many variations of translations that sometimes depict him tucking the needle behind his ear instead.
IGN France's comment was ignorant to Monkey King's lore and was also insensitive to the Chinese beliefs. Nonetheless, the backlash sees IGN France removing the post and explaining their misunderstanding. "(Clarification: we sincerely thought that the Jingu Bang [Monkey King's staff] was held behind the ear and not in the ear, sorry for this confusion.)
This isn't the first time IGN France is caught in the hot seat. It once made a controversial comment about Stellar Blade's female characters which received heavy backlash.
Black Myth: Wukong will be an action role-playing game that follows the stories from Journey to the West. It is developed by a Chinese studio, Game Science, and is set for release this August 20, 2024. You can catch the PS5 trailer for Black Myth: Wukong below!
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