Hong Kong bans video game in further national security push

HONG KONG - Hong Kong invoked national security laws to ban a video game for the first time, broadening the use of the set of legislation to fend off perceived threats and requiring internet service providers to comply.

Police in the semiautonomous Chinese city warned residents on June 10 not to download Reversed Front: Bonfire, a Taiwanese-made mobile game they accuse of advocating armed revolution and overthrowing the government in Beijing. The authorities have taken “disabling action on electronic messages” related to the game, according to a government statement.

The move against the app marked the first known use of a 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law and local security legislation passed in 2024 to block a video game. The government previously asked Google to restrict access to a protest song, which the company initially resisted until an appeals court confirmed an injunction order.

Launched in April, the game was not available on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in Hong Kong as at the morning of June 11. Apple and Alphabet’s Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The enforcement is the latest in a series of steps the authorities have taken to bolster their national security safeguards. The government in May implemented new measures to facilitate the work of Beijing’s national security office in the city, citing “increasingly turbulent global geopolitical” risks without providing details.

The app allows players to align themselves with Hong Kong, Tibet or Taiwan, among others, to fight the Communist regime, according to descriptions on the game’s official website. Alternatively, players can choose to lead the Communist forces, whose rule the app describes as “heavy-handed, reckless and inept”.

Residents sharing the game may commit the offence of inciting secession and subversion, and downloading it may be seen as possessing a publication