From Restricted to Shared: The Intersectional Pleasure Mechanisms in Chinese Horror Games (2001-2024)

This study examines the evolution of Chinese horror games from 2001 to 2024, arguing that three interacting forces, policy regulation, platform distribution, and cultural narrative, jointly shaped the genre's development. Its central thesis is that constraints functioned as creative drivers rather than mere obstacles. Censorship and restricted commercial channels pushed developers away from visual horror and toward psychological storytelling, producing what the authors term "restricted pleasure," a sustained tension that arises from withheld explicit imagery, and "strategic pleasure," the satisfaction players gain from decoding concealed meanings.

The analysis divides the period into three phases: the Dawn period (2001–2016), marked by underground production and commercial marginalization; the Transition period (2017–2023), when Steam and streaming platforms such as Bilibili converted solitary horror play into shared viewing experiences, a shift the authors call "shared pleasure"; and the Expansion period (2024 onward), characterized by growing dissatisfaction with formulaic folk-symbol horror and a move toward abstract engagement with social and local themes. Key cases anchor these claims, including 7 Days Salvation, a technically accomplished Symbian title whose Silent Hill-inspired psychology failed commercially amid distribution gaps and piracy, and Firework, which sold 300,000 copies in 2021.

The study's scope spans roughly a quarter century of Chinese-developed horror titles across mobile, PC, and streaming contexts. Its conclusions emphasize that streaming platforms and cultural narrative, rather than commercial success alone, enabled Chinese horror games to reach international audiences through culturally meaningful engagement.