China, the Middle Kingdom, does not spare gaming giants like WoW with its censorship either. But what does a censored undead or a skeleton without bones actually look like? The versions can differ significantly from one another.
For most games, different rules apply in China. Even a giant corporation like Blizzard cannot escape this.
In China, death is something sacred. Bones are sacraments. Display is not allowed, and anything related is censored. Blizzard had to bow to this and adapt World of Warcraft to China’s cultural peculiarities. In most cases, this has resulted in models that are significantly less gruesome. The imgur user Vahdis has compiled some of the differences in images.
The most important difference from the West is probably the appearance of all undead. Here, we are used to gruesome corpses, entrails, bones, and missing body parts.
In instances, the Chinese standard is also applied. Instead of the skeletal dragon Saphiron, a living-looking blue dragon suddenly awaits in the Chinese version of Naxxramas. Only its undead status is hinted at by its ominously glowing eyes.
Not only the bosses but also the textures of instances are changed. The floor of the Icecrown Citadel and its entrance are paved with bones and skulls in the Western version. Columns often consist of the dead. In China, all of this simply disappears.
Particularly critically: some textures are replaced with things that do not necessarily fit the environment. Instead, they only serve the same purpose. For example, in places where (human) meat would normally lie, there is bread, and instead of goblin skulls, there are bags full of gold.
In a few places, however, it is also evident that not much effort was made. Huge skulls or intricate details on weapons are simply replaced with gray stone boulders…
Not all textures have been consistently changed or replaced. In some places, skeletons or skulls can still be found. Perhaps because they still comply with Chinese regulations, perhaps because they were forgotten or are yet to be updated.
If you’re interested, you can find more of these images in the imgur galleries of Vahdis:
What do you think? How would you like a World of Warcraft in a Chinese layout? Do you find the models better or worse than the western ones? Share your opinion with us!
