[Tencent] Alchemy Stars Announces June 13th Launch, but Netizens are Skeptical About the 'Auspicious Date'

Tencent has officially announced that its tactical RPG 'Alchemy Stars' will launch in China on June 13th, accompanied by a promotional PV titled 'Auspicious Day'. As a successful export that performed well in international markets, the publisher is hoping to make a splash in the competitive domestic summer window, offering ten recruitment stars during a livestream to boost pre-registration numbers.

However, the announcement backfired immediately. Sharp-eyed players pointed out that the selected 'Auspicious Day' actually corresponds to a date in the traditional Chinese almanac deemed suitable only for 'burials, medical treatments, and funerals,' with surrounding dates marked as 'unsuitable for opening businesses.' This ironic blunder was mocked by netizens as a signature Tencent-style 'failure curve'.

Beyond the calendar mishap, the heavy-handed censorship of character art for the CN server has become a focal point of backlash. Players comparing the CN versions to the international ones have labeled the changes as 'self-castration,' criticizing the loss of the original aesthetic. Many who played the global version noted that the game lacks depth beyond its visuals. Consequently, community sentiment is overwhelmingly negative, with many predicting the game will flop immediately upon release—a sentiment summarized in local slang as '鉴定为一眼寄' (identifiable at a glance as doomed).