Revenge on Gold Diggers
Revenge on Gold Diggers is a Chinese interactive movie game released on Steam on June 19, 2025. The game was developed and published by Front Studio and directed by, with Xu Yue, Xu Wei, and Liu Mengru in leading roles.
Name
The original Chinese title of the game was "捞女游戏", it sparked widespread controversy in Chinese social media due to its perceived sexist overtones. In response to the backlash, the developers quickly renamed the game to "情感反诈模拟器". However, its English title, Revenge on Gold Diggers, remains unchanged.Plot
Player assume the role of a male "Love Hunter" Wu Yulun, who has been hurt by "gold diggers", and aims to infiltrate and counterattack the gold digger organization "Cinderelle". The game includes 472 minutes of video footage and 38 different endings, also featuring a "Mutual Aid Message Board" for player interaction and exchange of real experiences and strategies against relationship manipulation.Influence
The game received a 96% positive rate on Steam after its release and ranked fifth on the global bestseller list for a period, topping the Chinese regional sales chart and outselling games like "Black Myth: Wukong".Extreme Vision News condemned the game for labeling women as gold diggers under the guise of "relationship anti-fraud", deliberately inciting gender conflicts and stigmatizing female groups to harvest toxic attention. The critique was later removed. Beijing Youth Daily and Xinhuanet praised the game as an "innovative anti-fraud tool" and a "medium for spreading civilized marriage and relationship norms", suggesting it helps youths in romance scam prevention and finding true love. Game Grapes and Wang Dan also mentioned that the game has "referential and educational value" though the storyline seems fragmented. They noted that the discussion around the game has calmed down after its release, suggesting that opponents may not be numerous. They also pointed out the severity of the male-female opposition issue reflected by the game's hot discussion.
After the game's launch, the game developer Mark Wu and the official Bilibili account were banned; its Weibo tag was also blocked for unknown reasons. The game developers stated that the social media takedowns were due to "technical issues" and there was no need for excessive concern.