Male Classmate Blew Up in a Week and Sparked Controversy Again

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Oh No! I'm Surrounded by Male Classmates went from barely noticed to all over Bilibili in the past week after multiple creators played it in streams and videos. The free gag-style galgame on Steam, independently made and self-funded by several high school students, has now reached tens of millions of views on Bilibili and earned a Very Positive rating on Steam. Then the backlash arrived.

The odd part is how small the project was at the start: a school prank polished just enough to get a Steam page. A few students paid out of pocket to publish a free, absurdist galgame built around classmates mugging, teasing, and playing off one another on camera. Once Bilibili creators picked it up, the appeal was obvious for video creators: quick reactions, awkward posing, low-stakes laughs, and a premise viewers understood immediately.

The controversy centered on one line from the game's former Steam description: "If you don't play it, you're gay." Critics also pointed to the game's use of the "gei" meme, exaggerated flirty posing, and prank-style teasing as evidence that it disrespected sexual minorities. Within days, the discussion moved from comedy clips to calls for boycotts, removal, and accusations of discrimination and caricature.

The rumors around the game should be separated from the criticism of its jokes. Claims that classmates had been forced to appear on camera, or that the creators had been disciplined by their school, were serious enough to spread quickly. After the creators stepped forward to explain the situation, those claims fell apart. The team did not issue a long response to every demand from critics. The visible change was the removal of the disputed Steam description line.

That change is limited, but it matters. The game can still be understood as a joke. A line that leaves some players feeling targeted should be reconsidered.

Its speed makes more sense once you look at what it is copying. Oh No! I'm Surrounded by Male Classmates is plainly riffing on the live-action romance template of Love Is All Around, except it swaps heterosexual dating fantasy for messy, self-mocking jokes about male classmates. Its comedy lands less like a polished dating sim than like classroom banter, between-class teasing, and friends overacting until everyone breaks.

That also explains why it works so well in creator videos. Once a Bilibili uploader catches the joke, viewers do not need much setup. The game is free, the premise is obvious, and every scene gives the uploader something to bounce off.

My advice is straightforward. If you want a free campus prank game, go in expecting a student project with a very high joke density. If this style of humor bothers you, skipping it is just as reasonable. There is no prize for turning every reaction into a verdict.

The larger lesson is sharper: player communities now react extremely quickly to the boundaries of meme humor. Even a free project from a small team can be scrutinized heavily once it spreads.

What I hope most is that the backlash does not damage the ordinary school lives of several high school students. The game became popular because a few students made something odd, free, and easy to share at exactly the right time. It was criticized because public jokes are judged by people far outside the room they were made in. Hopefully the controversy does not disrupt their studies, and hopefully they keep growing into creators who can make work that is sharper, more mature, and still genuinely funny.