Taiwanese company Mizo Games has launched a new action game that allows players to take on the roles of military officers and secret criminals to ordinary freedom fighters fighting against fictional Chinese criminals.
The game, called “2045”, will be released in Taiwan this month. It will also be released later in January in English in Europe and the United States.
In August 2024, Mizo Games launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise more than 4 million Taiwan dollars ($121,707 USD) within two and a half months.
In an interview with Reuters in December, Chang Shao Lian, the founder of Mizo Games said: “I want players to feel that they want to win and think about what they can do to win.”
The game is being released amid escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, with China increasing military activities near the island and intensifying efforts by public security forces to prepare for any possible attack.
So how does this game work and can it be used in battle planning?
What is 2045?
The game simulates a Chinese invasion of Taiwan 20 years in the future and players as characters in the 10 days before the invasion.
Instead of focusing on Taiwan's defense, the players are evaluated on how they achieve their specific goals.
“There are two types of success, individual success and Taiwan's success. These two results bring a great moral conflict to the players. I don't want players to play the game with the mindset of learning but I want them to play with the enthusiasm to participate and win the battle on the table,” Shao Lian told Reuters.
Players in 2045 can take part in modern warfare, including cyberwarfare, economic disruption and chaos.
The production of “2045” has been faced with several problems, mainly related to the evaluation and the reduction of production.
The game's controversial story hinders its production in China, a departure from the usual practices of Taiwanese board game companies.
Will Mizo Games make another fighting game?
Yes, Mizo launched its first war game, Raid on Taihoku, in 2017. Set in Taiwan during World War II, players must survive the bombing of their city. The game is based on the US air raid on Kaohsiung (then known as Takao) in November 1944.
What makes the popularity of war games?
Games with social and political themes are not new, according to Paul Booth, professor of media and pop culture at the College of Communication at DePaul University in Chicago, and author of Board Games as Media, who spoke to Al Jazeera.
“Games like 2045 are important because they allow us to imagine and play with the possibilities. In a way that, like a TV show or a movie, we can watch, we can feel engaged. We can feel involved.
“The power of games like this is to allow players to feel connected, like participating, connected to a certain history.”
2045 is part of a long-standing interest in “playing up” important social issues, Booth said.
Board games that influence people's comments go back a hundred years. “The Landlord's Game”, invented in 1902 by Elizabeth Magie, was designed to teach players the evils of land consolidation and expropriation.
In 1935, the game was adapted and marketed by Charles Darrow and Parker Brothers, who changed the rules and themes to emphasize competition and the accumulation of wealth, and became known as Monopoly.
War is another such issue that has led to the creation of the game both in preparation for war and among civilians.
“War is a very important issue since time immemorial. A war game in which generals place armies on a large table and organize battles. “This is a classic board game,” Booth said.
“The wargame genre is still very strong, and we're seeing it in things like Warhammer (released in 1983), or small tabletop games.”
It's not just board games that are taking the minds of Taiwanese media companies when it comes to the Chinese invasion.
“Zero Day” is a 10-episode fictional TV drama series, depicting a possible invasion of China. The show depicts the events of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the army of the People's Republic of China, invading the island, which may have cast a shadow over Taiwan for generations.
The show is expected to be released this year in Taiwan.
Why are tensions rising between Taiwan and China?
The roots of the conflict between China and Taiwan can be traced back to the Chinese Civil War, which lasted from 1945 to 1949. This conflict ended with the victory of Mao Zedong's Communist Party over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Party, also known as the Kuomintang (KMT).
After the Chinese Civil War, Chiang Kai-shek moved the government of the Republic of China (ROC) to Taiwan, while Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland. Each regime asserted itself as the legitimate government of the whole of China, leading to political conflict and competition for Chinese supremacy.
China continues to see Taiwan as part of its territory.
In his 2025 New Year speech on China's CCTV television Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can break our family ties, and no one can stop the culture of m “The history of international reunification.”
However, Taiwan opposes any kind of “reunification” and considers China's military exercises in the Taiwan Strait “provocative”.
What war games did China play near Taiwan?
In August 2022, China fired missiles at Taiwan in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. It described this as a “military operation”.
Under the “one China policy”, the US does not officially recognize Taiwan's independence from China. However, it supports its membership of international organizations such as the World Trade Organization. In addition, under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) of 1979, the US committed to providing Taiwan with the necessary military equipment and services to ensure the island's self-defense capabilities.
During Pelosi's visit to the island, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemned China's military actions, seeing them as a serious threat to national security and a dangerous escalation of regional tensions.
In May 2024, China held a large-scale military exercise, called “Joint Sword-2024”, in the first week of Taiwan President William Lai Ching-te. Military operations around Taiwan involved 111 aircraft, 46 ships and its operations included naval attacks, surface strikes, air defense drilling and anti-submarine operations.
In October 2024, China said that the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA had deployed new military equipment off the coast of Taiwan as “punishment” for talking to Taiwan's President Lai, in which he vowed to “refuse to be invaded” or “interfere with our sovereignty.” Taiwan said it had acquired 34 ships. 125 ships and planes around the island.
Recently – on December 9 – Taiwan deployed its military “very attentive“, launching war preparedness exercises and a contingency area “that threatens the enemy”, following the sighting of about 90 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels in waters near Taiwan, the southern islands of Japan and the East Sea and Southern China.
Two days later, Taiwan's Ministry of Defense he said it tracked 53 warplanes, 11 naval vessels and eight civilian vessels near the island in the past 24 hours.
Is Taiwan's military using games to prepare for war?
In December, the office of the President of Taiwan held the first “tabletop” war games for the military and government officials in accordance with the escalation of hostilities with China to test the government's response and evaluate the role of various government agencies in maintaining stability and continuity of the people. in times of crisis.
According to Taiwanese government officials, the game was held in the Presidential Office in Taipei, with Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim and Secretary General of the National Security Council Joseph Wu.
Several government, central and local agencies, as well as various civil defense agencies, took part in the operation for three hours, according to sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the complexity of the event.