Gaming narratives : Chinese culture in digital mediums

Abstract

This study asks how recent Chinese video games present Chinese culture while operating under state regulation and pursuing global markets. To address this question, it conducts close textual analysis of three landmark titles: Genshin Impact (2020), Naraka: Bladepoint (2021), and Black Myth: Wukong (2024). It examines narrative motifs, visual and architectural design, and music in the context of China’s policy framework and commercial imperatives. The comparison shows that all three games foreground heritage elements such as mythology, imperial architecture, and traditional instruments, yet adopt hybrid aesthetics that make those elements legible to worldwide players. Regulatory guidelines steer developers toward positive heritage themes and away from politically sensitive material, while export ambitions encourage anime- or cinema-inflected styles that broaden appeal. The analysis concludes that contemporary Chinese games function as curated cultural texts: they negotiate ideological boundaries, satisfy market requirements, and offer international audiences vivid, and at times selective encounters with Chinese tradition, thereby extending China’s soft-power reach through interactive media.