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Counter-Strike came to China quite late—it was released there in 2017 through the Chinese publisher Perfect World. But did you know that Chinese CS2 is a little different from the version played in the rest of the world? You may have noticed subtle changes in skins and other details during Counter-Strike events held in China, like the recent IEM Chengdu. Read on to find out what’s different in the Perfect World edition and why these changes were made!
Contents
No Skulls Allowed
The most noticeable difference is that in Chinese Counter-Strike, you won’t see any skulls or skeletons. And I mean any: they have been removed or replaced with other images in everything from skins to achievement icons.
Why, Though?
I don’t claim to know for sure, but after extensive research, it seems that there are two possible reasons: cultural sensitivity and/or legal regulations.
On a cultural level, death is one of the biggest taboos in China. Even talking about death or mortality is frowned upon, as many people believe it brings bad fortune. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why images of skulls and skeletons, which represent death so graphically, would be an unwelcome sight. (Yes, people literally shoot and kill each other’s characters in the game, but cultural customs and sensitivity don’t always follow the same logic across cultures.)
In terms of legal considerations, many people cite the Chinese government’s stance on the superstitious as the reason behind “censoring” skulls in the media. In regard to online games, China’s Ministry of Culture forbids, among many other things, content that “propagates evil cults and superstitions”, and skulls or skeletons could be covered by that rather ambiguous law. Whatever the real reasoning may be, CS2 is not alone here: other popular online games, like WoW and Dota 2, also have separate Chinese versions that feature no skulls, skeletons, or dead bodies.
What’s Different
More than you’d expect! I guarantee you never noticed how many skulls there are in Counter-Strike—and we’re not just talking about skins here.
Skins and Stickers
Every skull on a skin or sticker has been edited, coming to a total of around 40 weapon skins, 5 pairs of gloves, and who knows how many stickers.
We’ll look at weapon skins in detail at the end of this guide.
As for stickers, in most cases, skulls have been replaced with gas masks, sometimes to rather… interesting effect.
Even this cat skull sticker, Purrurists (Foil), got a makeover.
And then there’s this lil’ gem.
For the full list of altered stickers, check out this awesome guide by Exerpas and aqua >.< on Steam, it’s a treasure trove of information on this subject.
The Operation Bloodhound Logo
In case you never looked too closely at the Operation Bloodhound logo, it happens to feature a skull—presumably a bloodhound skull, since it looks like it had once belonged to a canine of some kind.
In the Chinese version of CS2, this skull has been replaced with a paw print. Some players call it cute, others aren’t that impressed—I’d say there’s no denying it looks a little out of place, especially on gloves (it makes me think of PAW Patrol more than Counter-Strike, but okay).
The logo has been changed on everything from coins and pins to the Operation Bloodhound Case and its corresponding key.
Music Kits
Several covers of CS2 music kits feature skulls, and these have been edited to, you know, no longer feature skulls. Interestingly, the T. rex skeleton on the cover of Insurgency by Robert Allaire met the same fate (with some interesting choices being made).
T. rexes in scarves aside, the list of altered covers includes Astro Bellum by Jesse Harlin (pictured), The Good Youth by Blitz Kids, Death’s Head Demolition by Dren, A*D*8 by Sean Murray, and II-Headshot by Skog.
Other Items
Plenty of other items received an “update” to replace skeletons and skulls, including graffiti, capsules, pins, patches, and even achievement icons. For the full list, check out the Steam guide by Exerpas and aqua >.< mentioned above (Part 2 and Part 3 in particular).
Arabic Writing Removed in Maps
In the Chinese version of Counter-Strike, all Arabic references (text, in particular) are missing from Dust 2. The map is located in Morocco, where Arabic is the official language, so this seems like a peculiar decision.
We could speculate about it being a politically motivated decision, but at the same time, the Italian flag has also been removed from the Italy map, so… who really knows?
Speaking of maps, the Arms Race map Monastery was not playable in China’s edition of CS:GO because it’s located in Tibet. China has a… complicated history and relationship with Tibet, to put it very mildly.
Redacted Political Symbols
By “political” I really mean “communist” in this case: specifically, the hammer and sickle symbol in the Train and Cache maps was no longer there in the Chinese version of the game. Train has since been through a makeover and Cache is not available in CS2 (at the time of writing, at least!), so these changes are no longer noticeable. Still, they’re worth mentioning, especially since future maps could be subject to the same changes.
The hammer and sickle is a communist symbol that represents unity between industrial (hammer) and agricultural (sickle) workers. In Western cultures, we tend to associate it with the Soviet Union, and therefore with the past—but in fact, it’s still a symbol of many communist countries, including China. It is a prominent symbol of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and it’s widely used in official contexts. It’s easy to see why it would need to be removed from a game like Counter-Strike—no one would want the leading party to be associated with the game.
Speaking of avoiding associations, there’s also a politically charged skin that was edited for the Chinese market. The skin in question is MAC-10 | Propaganda, which features the Russian words “control” and “fear”. Alongside the imagery, name, and color palette, the skin seems like a clear reference to Soviet propaganda—and Soviet Union is pretty much synonymous with communism. Here’s the Chinese version of the skin, next to the original:
Oh, and remember the Separatists faction from CS:GO? Their uniforms had also been edited for the Chinese version of the game, in order to remove the star symbol from their patches. Presumably, the star bore too much resemblance to the red star, which is another communist symbol still used by China’s ruling party.
Censored Blood and… Money
Presumably to make the game appear less violent, the Chinese version of CS2 features “censored” blood. It still appears when characters get shot, but its color has been changed to black.
Blood and gore is also missing from stickers, and even from achievement icons.
This is rather unsurprising, considering that blood censorship in China is a long-standing topic that extends beyond video games to include anime and TV series (most notably Game of Thrones).
Harder to explain is the game’s censorship of money:
Cash has been replaced with what looks like a stack of post-its, while the money bag looks like a plain duffel bag. Go figure.
Censored CS2 Skins in China
Here’s a selection of censored CS2 skins that look different in China:
Glock-18 | Nuclear Garden
Glock-18 | Nuclear Garden is covered in skulls, so it’s no wonder it needed reworking for the Chinese market. The skulls have been replaced with gas masks, rendered in a similar style and layout. In all honesty, this cover-up is on the crude side, looking a lot like it had been hastily put together.
Nuclear Garden is one of the many examples of Perfect World skins where a gas mask is slapped over any skull in the design, without much effort to rework the skin into something unique. We’ll skip those skins in this list, since they’re all very similar, and show you a few that received more interesting makeovers.
M4A4 | Desolate Space
The Perfect World version of M4A4 | Desolate Space is one of the few censored skins that doesn’t just replace the skull with a gas mask and call it a day. The Chinese version is actually pretty cool, with a cracked visor covering the character’s face. The neon yellow of the glass works well with the rest of the color palette in this design, balancing it out nicely.
USP-S | Kill Confirmed
The “censored” USP-S | Kill Confirmed is another skin that looks just as good in the Perfect World edition—in fact, it could be mistaken for an alternate design of the same skin. The skull has been replaced with a robot head, and the blood turned light-blue, to resemble some kind of artificial liquid. There’s a lot of detail in this design, and in fact, some players prefer the look of the Perfect World version. Shame we can’t get one of those outside of China!
USP-S | Cortex
The skull in USP-S | Cortex has been replaced with a face reminiscent of Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas. This change goes surprisingly well with the rest of the design, maintaining its light and cartoony style. Interestingly, while the skull got replaced, the pink stuff that’s supposed to represent brain matter has been left untouched.
AK-47 | Cartel
This one required some finesse, and whoever redesigned these skins for the Chinese market really delivered here. The sugar skull on the magazine of the original AK-47 | Cartel is a more abstract design in the Chinese version, but still in keeping with the Mexican theme and the intricate style of the skin. Notice that there’s a skull on the receiver, too, which Perfect World replaced with a scorpion.
UMP-45 | Primal Saber
We’ve seen in earlier examples of censored visuals that animal skulls don’t get a free pass here. Luckily, the designers didn’t just put a gas mask on the saber-toothed tiger skull depicted in UMP-45 | Primal Saber. Instead, they… brought the tiger back to life.
P250 | Wingshot
The skull on the grip of P250 | Wingshot received an update very much in line with the style of the skin, maintaining a cohesive look. I’m not quite sure whether the Chinese version features a robot or someone wearing a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic mask, but either way, it sure looks good!
Five-SeveN | Scrawl
Just like the saber-toothed tiger got un-deaded, so to speak, for the purposes of launching in China, so has the skull from Five-Seven | Scrawl. The “censored” design is actually quite interesting, featuring a man’s face, with tape covering his mouth. This change adds a whole new layer to the design, and some would say it looks better than the original.
There are lots of other skins that look different in the Chinese version of CS2, but we don’t want to keep you here forever—if you’re interested in seeing them all, check out this guide on Steam.
That’s all for today! Next time you watch a match from a CS2 tournament held in China, you can be on the lookout for these differences (and you’ll know why they’re there!). What do you think about the Perfect World versions of CS2 skins? Let us know on our socials, and have fun on Key-Drop!
