Kung-Fu Brawler Sifu Developer Didn’t Hire A Chinese Culture Consultant [Update]

Update [09/02]: Sifu’s PR company Tinsley has reached out to correct us that several Chinese consultants worked on the game during its development. We’ve asked for further details on this and will update the article.

Original: Promising kung-fu brawler Sifu didn’t hire a Chinese culture consultant, a game inspired by Chinese folk heroes and martial arts movies.

Sifu was announced in 2021 and the various gameplay trailers are more than enough to get fans of the beat ‘em up genre excited. The combat looks to be free-flowing, moves look to have an impact, and it certainly wouldn’t look out of place if the story starred martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

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Sifu also has a unique twist with its narrative and gameplay. Every time the protagonist is revived by a magical talisman, he returns aged by a number of years. Unfortunately, once the talisman’s magic is used up, the protagonist cannot be revived and eventually, he will die.

However, as reported by Khee Hoon of TheGamer, it’s been revealed that developers Sloclap didn’t hire a Chinese culture consultant when developing Sifu. 

sifu
Credit: Sloclap

Sifu looks a lot of fun!

Don’t get me wrong, Sifu looks like it could be an awesome game, but appointing a culture consultant of Chinese origin perhaps would have been better received in an industry looking to improve on diversity in the workplace.

As Khee Hoon mentioned in their article, Ben Colussi was the hired martial artist to choreograph the fights in Sifu. He, may have doubled as the games cultural consultant.

sifu
Credit: Sloclap

Khee Hoon also compares Ghost of Tsushima developer Sucker Punch Productions. This game was set in fuedal Japan and, to the best of our knowledge, Japanese consultants were on the team.

I have no doubt that Ben Colussi would have far more knowledge on the topic at hand. More than I could ever have. I certainly wouldn’t last a second in fisty cuffs. However, it seems that if Sloclap would have brought in an additional cultural consultant of Chinese origin, it may have been more reassuring for those concerned.

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You can read more on this topic in the article from Khee Moon. It certainly makes for an interesting and enlightening read. Are you looking forward to Sifu? Let us know across our social media channels. Sifu will release for PC, PS4 and PS5 on February 8th.

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Featured Image Credit: Sloclap