Red Candle Games

Red Candle Games Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 赤燭股份有限公司) is a Taiwanese independent video game development studio based in Taipei, Taiwan. The company is most known for developing Detention and Devotion.

Red Candle Games Co., Ltd.
Native name
赤燭股份有限公司
TypeIndependent
IndustryVideo games
FoundedSeptember 1, 2015
Founders
  • Henry Wang
  • Light Wang
  • Coffee Yao
  • Doy Chiang
  • Finger Chen
  • Vincent Yang
Headquarters
Taipei
,
Taiwan
Key people
  • Henry Wang (Co-founder)
  • Light Wang (Co-founder)
  • Coffee Yao (Co-founder)
  • Doy Chiang (Co-founder)
  • Finger Chen (Co-founder)
  • Vincent Yang (Co-founder)
  • Tiff Liu (PR Director)
Number of employees
12
Websitehttps://redcandlegames.com/

History

Red Candle Games was founded on September 1, 2015, by six individuals from different backgrounds to create Detention, a psychological horror video game set in 1960s White Terror-era Taiwan.[1] Released in January 2017 for Steam, Detention received positive reviews from critics, with Polygon's Ashley Oh noting "it elegantly blends religious and thematic East Asian references with modern aspects of the mid-20th century".[2] Detention was adapted into a film in 2019, and later adapted into a TV series in 2020.

After Detention, Red Candle Games began work on their second release, Devotion, another psychological horror video game, this time set in Taiwan in the 1980s.[3] Devotion was released in February 2019 to initially positive reception, but when Chinese players discovered hidden easter eggs in the game which include visual references mocking Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, it was pulled in China.[4] Red Candle Games issued an apology for the incident and removed the game globally from Steam. Chen Chi-mai, Taiwan's then Vice Premier, voiced his support for the developers.[5] For a short period in June 2020, a physical release of Devotion was available for pre-order in Taiwan alone.[6]

In March 2021, Red Candle Games launched an e-shop on their official website which sold both of their games.[7]

In December 2021, the studio announced their next project being Nine Sols, a 2D hand-drawn action-platformer inspired by Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Hollow Knight, and Katana Zero, with the former for its deflection-focused combat system.[8] It is described by the developer as "lore-rich", being set in an Asian fantasy-inspired, futuristic, cyberpunk world that tells the story of a vengeful hero on a quest to slay the eponymous 9 Sols, the formidable rulers of a forsaken realm where the hero must explore while discovering the mysteries of an ancient alien race and learning about the fate of mankind.[9] The developers also described the game's setting as "Taopunk", being cyberpunk mixed with Taoism and Far Eastern mythology.[10] In March 2022, Red Candle Games launched a crowdfunding campaign for Nine Sols on their e-shop and pledged NT $3 million. The crowdfunding was a huge success, raised over NT $13.6 million over the initial pledge and crossed the following three stretch goals which are a story mode, an in-game cutscene, and an alternate ending.[11][12]

Games developed
Year Title Platform(s)
Android iOS Linux macOS PS4 PS5 Win NS XOne XSeries X&S
2017 Detention Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No
2019 Devotion No No No Yes No No Yes No No No
2023 Nine Sols No No No Yes Pending Pending Yes Pending No No

See also

References
  1. "Red Candle Games". Redcandlegames.com. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  2. Oh, Ashley (15 March 2018). "Psychological horror game Detention revisits 1960s Taiwan". Polygon. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  3. Evans-Thirlwell, Evan (16 September 2019). "The making of Devotion, China's least favourite horror game". Eurogamer. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  4. Allen, Kerry (25 February 2019). "Taiwan game 'Devotion' upsets China with Winnie the Pooh reference". BBC. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  5. Lum, Patrick (27 February 2019). "Taiwanese game removed from sale after anti-China messages discovered". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  6. Lee, Julia (8 June 2020). "Censored horror game Devotion returns with a physical release". Polygon. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  7. Han, Ting-ting; Yeh, Joseph (15 March 2021). "Taiwanese video game developer facing Chinese boycott sets up e-shop". Central News Agency. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  8. Bains, Jai Singh (2022-03-22). "Devotion devs next game Nine Sols has already smashed its crowdfunding goal". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
  9. McWhertor, Michael (2021-12-16). "A Sekiro-inspired 2D platformer is coming from the creators of Devotion". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  10. Matt, Wales (March 18, 2022). "Devotion and Detention dev's "Taopunk" action-platformer Nine Sols gets first trailer". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  11. "RedCandleGames Thread". Twitter. March 18, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  12. "RedCandleGames Thread". Twitter. June 27, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
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