Hong Kong protesters are fighting on the streets in GTA Online
Protests in the streets of Hong Kong are still ongoing, and the Chinese government remains adamant. As a consequence, the players decided to move demonstrations to the streets of Los Santos – the main city of GTA V and GTA Online.
The protests in Hong Kong began in March 2019 and there is no indication that they will end quickly. This is a response to the strong interference of Chinese government into the autonomy of the entire region and the violation of civil liberties. There is also the topic of video games market, which also contributes to the development of the situation we can see on the streets of Hong Kong. First Blizzard was forced by Chinese politicians to suspend Chung „blitzchung” Ng Wai. He is an e-sport player who supported the protesters after he won the tournament in Hearthstone. Later on, Valve was delaying with the release of Liberate Hong Kong and Karma characters for quite a long time. The reason was quite simple. The controversy as well as potential illegal content. What is more, Google also participated in it by removing mobile game known as The Revolution of Our Times from their Google Play Store. It is all because the app was also supporting the protesters. The removal of this title caused a big stir, even among employees of the Google company.
This time, thanks to one of the latest updates to GTA Online, hidden under the name of Diamond Casino Heist>, we could notice an addition of plenty new clothes and equipment. Among them, one could find yellow helmets and gas masks – the same ones used by demonstrators in Hong Kong. According to the BBC, users of LIHKG forum (the equivalent of Reddit in China) organized protests on the streets of Los Santos. Everyone who wanted to take part in the event had to join the “Stand With Hong Kong” crew and buy a set called “Glory to Hong Kong” in a clothing store. Protesting players wreaked havoc in every part of the city. They, for example, threw bottles with gasoline at police officers and their vehicles. What is more, they also attacked metro stations. It didn’t take long for players from mainland China to play the role of police units and regular clashes broke out between the two groups on the streets. The Chinese Weibo service reported that epic fight ended in the victory of the police forces – there were simply more players on their side than in the ranks of the protesters.
The developers from Rockstar Games did not release any statement about this situation.