On October 18th, during Blue Archive‘s global third-anniversary livestream, a controversy arose, generating strong reactions in China. The issue stemmed from the presentation of a player ranking chart based on country, which included Taiwan and Hong Kong as separate “countries.” This sparked a wave of criticism from the Chinese community.
The Issue
The controversy primarily emerged because both Taiwan and Hong Kong were shown as entities separate from China, conflicting with the Chinese government’s stance and its “One China” policy. In China, the government considers Taiwan and Hong Kong as inseparable territories of the People’s Republic of China, and the livestream’s presentation was perceived as an offense to its sovereignty.
Ranking that generated the controversy
Reaction in China
Immediately after the broadcast, the Chinese version of Blue Archive issued a statement on the Weibo social network, affirming its stance of defending China’ s territorial integrity. The statement declared the following:
“We have always defended China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Taiwan and Hong Kong are inalienable parts of the People’s Republic of China.”
They further noted that they had contacted Nexon, the parent company behind the game, to demand an immediate correction and hold those responsible for the error accountable, which led to the removal of the livestream. You can read the full statement here.
Nexon’s Official Apology
Amid rising discontent, Nexon, the South Korean company managing the global servers of Blue Archive, issued an official apology on the X platform (formerly Twitter). In their statement, Nexon acknowledged the error and expressed apologies to players, reaffirming their commitment to the “One China” policy. They emphasized that the error was due to an internal oversight, and corrective measures had already been taken, including the release of a corrected video on October 19th.
Nexon’s statement included the following:
“We sincerely apologize for the error made during the global server livestream, which did not align with our commitment to the ‘One China’ policy. We have taken the necessary steps to correct the content and prevent this from happening again in the future.”
The full apology is available here.
The incident highlights the sensitivity of geopolitical issues in global media, especially in the gaming industry. Blue Archive and Nexon’s swift response shows that, while the mistake was significant, the company is committed to avoiding similar incidents and ensuring that future broadcasts meet the expectations and regulations of the markets they operate in.
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