Horror Games Devotion and Detention Will Be Preserved by Harvard-Yenching Library

Red Candle Games has revealed that its two horror games, Detention and Devotion, have been added to the Harvard-Yenching Library for preservation. The Harvard-Yenching library was founded in 1928 as the  Chinese-Japanese Library of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. In 1965, it took its current name to reflect its expansion beyond just Chinese and Japanese media. It is the largest East Asian library maintained by an American university.

Last year, Devotion was pulled from Steam for a QA check, but has not been returned to the storefront since. Devotion followed the unfortunate circumstances of the Du family. Players would follow along as things worsened for the family and Feng Yu, the father of the family, turned to a cult for the god Cigu Guanyin for relief. People would explore the world looking through Feng Yu’s eyes, resulting in an experience that plays similarly to P.T.

Following its removal from the Steam store, Red Candle released a statement mentioning that a re-release wouldn’t be happening any time soon. With the game being added to the Harvard-Yenching library, it will now be at least be preserved in some way.

Meanwhile, Detention is a 2D, atmospheric side-scroller. Players follow two students who find themselves trapped at Greenwood High School, where there are both real and supernatural dangers to contend with. The game takes place in Taiwan in the 1960s, while it was under martial law.

Both games provide social commentary from the perspective of their Taiwanese developers, making them valuable pieces of media that not only helped highlight social issues but discussed the history of Taiwan during the White Terror period. Red Candle Games said in their tweet:

So honored that both #Devotion and #Detention are now part of collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library. Meanwhile, for the past year we’re sorry for making you worried. Rest assured we’ll keep develop games with the same passion. And thank you to all who still believe in us.

Red Candle goes on to thank their partners, friends, families, and for the fans that still believe in them. You can read a more detailed message from the developer via their official Facebook.

Devotion originally appeared on PCs. It is no longer available to purchase. Detention, Red Candle Games’ first title, is currently available on PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4.