I probably don’t have to tell you that the Chinese government doesn’t appreciate porn. Hence, that’s why porn is illegal in China. But that doesn’t mean that Chinese people don’t get their porn fill. In fact, one of Steam’s top downloads is proving otherwise.
The application is called Wallpaper Engine. And it is uber popular for allowing folks to modify their PC backgrounds. But as you might have guessed, there’s a porn loophole to Wallpaper Engine and Chinese people have caught on.
In fact, many of Wallpaper Engine’s reviews regard its ability to circumvent porn laws in China.
The application cost $3.99. It allows users to fully customize their PC’s wallpaper. You can upload your wallpaper creations for others. Many wallpapers make use of video. Not sure if I should give you that Scooby Snack yet, but I hope so. Because the math here is pretty remedial.
Yes, some people upload porn videos and those videos can be downloaded by others. Not exactly the spirit of Wallpaper Engine’s mission (or at least, we guess it isn’t).
Videos are uploaded through the Wallpaper Engine Workshop. And you can save videos in your Steam folder. Because you aren’t visiting a porn site or porn game site, the Chinese government can’t detect the pervishness.
Accessing Steam in China isn’t so hard. But try sharing porn and you risk your freedom. That includes porn on social media sites or content you didn’t fully realize to be porn.
Now, Steam doesn’t allow Workshop porn. That said, there’s nothing stopping Wallpaper Engine from serving as a delivery, exchange system for the goods.
Now, in case you’re wondering how Wallpaper Engine feels about all this?
Well, in short, they don’t particularly care.
“What’s wrong with that? Wallpaper Engine is only a framework. No matter what you upload to it – even those crazy videos – I don’t think there’s any problem.” Wallpaper Engine app developer Kristjan Skutta said.
Even more-so, Steam is a perfect porn delivery system given it’s lightning fast global servers which allow high-quality file exchanges to go rather smooth. So when people want to exchange heavy graphics via the Steam Workshop, its no problem at all.
But its not just porn that plagues Wallpaper Engine. There’s also pirated copies of movies, memes, and other miscellaneous content. But the porn is the toast of Wallpaper Engine.
And if you aren’t sure any of this is really happening, please note that half a million Wallpaper Engine reviews are written in Chinese language and deploy the native term for “porn.” And nearly 20% of Wallpaper Engine traffic is Chinese. Hopefully, you’re devouring that Scooby Snack by now. If not, I feel terrible for you.
So far, there’s no word on whether or not Steam or the Chinese government will take any sort of action. It should be noted, Steam already carries porn games, so it’s not that far of a stretch that some naughty videos are saved in some directories.
One thing is certain, where there’s a will, there’s porn. When the people want porn, no matter where they live in the world, they can find creative ways to access it no matter how their communist overlords feel.
Be grateful you live in a porn-friendly country. If you don’t, be grateful for Wallpaper Engine. I guess.