A UK government-funded “anti-extremist” game that warns young people they could be at risk of being referred to a counter-terrorism program if they question immigration has accidentally sparked a “cute goth girl” meme in reaction to the game’s antagonist, Amelia, a purple-haired British teenager who has become a social media star after she encouraged her peers to join a protest in defense of English rights.
The UK government’s computer game, Pathways — designed for students ages 11 to 18 — went viral, in part due to top gaming streamer Zach “Asmongold” Hoyt, who pointed out the game’s existence and commented that its protagonist, Charlie, was being “re-educated.”
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At some point while playing Pathways, the game’s Charlie character becomes friends with a classmate named Amelia — depicted as a goth girl with purple hair — who encourages young people in her local England town to “join a political group that seeks to defend English rights.”
“Amelia spoke of a gathering that had been organized by a small political group,” the game’s narration states, adding, “They would come together and protest the changes that Britain has been through in the last few years and the erosion of British values.”
But this notion is framed negatively in the game, as Charlie later learns that if he had “chosen to engage with these harmful ideas, the consequences would have been very different.”
“Yes, of course. There’s right political beliefs and wrong political beliefs,” Asmongold — who boasts 4.32 million followers on YouTube and 3.6 million followers on Twitch — sarcastically quipped in reaction the game’s message.
“Have you guys ever noticed that there’s never a ‘right-wing’ for anything? There’s always only a ‘far-right’ or an ‘alt-right,'” he added. “I never hear something as ‘right-wing’ anymore. I always hear that there’s another adjective that’s put in front of it as like a qualifier.”
Breitbart News played the interactive game — funded by the UK government’s Prevent program, which aims to stop people from supporting or becoming terrorists — and learned that players are encouraged to avoid actions such as “watching a provocative video on social media” or joining a protest against the “erosion of British values.”
Moreover, engaging with content and characters the game deems guilty of spreading “harmful ideological messages” results in the player’s character getting hit with an extremism referral to Prevent, and then having to attend counselling.
The UK government-funded game even warns players that “downloading or streaming certain content can lead to a terrorist offense conviction.”
At the start of Pathways, students must choose their character — either a boy or girl named Charlie — who is constantly referred to as “they” throughout the game, regardless of the sex the player chooses.
From there, Charlie, a college freshman experiencing campus life for the first time, faces various decision-making scenarios, such as whether to download a video or whether to adopt the view that immigrants are “taking our jobs” — with outcomes shaped by the player’s choices.
In one example, Charlie comes across a video that claims “Muslim men are stealing the places of British war veterans in emergency accommodation” and “the government is betraying white British people and we need to take back control of our country.”
The Pathways player must then choose whether Charlie will “scroll past” the content, “find out more about the topic online,” or “engage directly with the post.”
Choosing to engage with the post results in the player receiving a message that states: “Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t realize that some of the groups they were engaging in were actually illegal.”
If a player decides to let Charlie “find out more about the topic,” the research is portrayed in a negative light, as the action still results in Charlie being exposed to “illegal” groups, putting the character at risk of an extremism referral.
Another example involves Charlie being invited to a protest against “the changes that Britain has been through in the last few years and the erosion of British values.”
The player is then given the option to have Charlie decline the invitation, tell a friend he will attend but only watch the demonstration “from the sidelines,” or actively participate in the protest.
If a player selects the game’s middle-ground option, Charlie goes to the protest and feels uncomfortable, as he realizes the demonstration seems to be “more about racism and anti-immigration than British values,” before almost getting arrested.
“Charlie had only been here to observe, but the line between observing and participating was too easy to cross,” the game’s narration states, warning the player that they had chosen an unfavorable option.
Players who “lose” the game will then watch as Charlie sits alone at school with no friends, prompting his teacher to make a Prevent referral so that he can attend counselling and be assigned to an anti-terrorism expert who serves as his mentor and helps him address his ideological thoughts.
Amusingly, Pathways inadvertently sparked in a flood of fan art, memes, and viral posts praising the game’s antagonist, Amelia, despite its intention to portray her as a person meant to be avoided.
“I think I’m in love with Amelia,” one X user announced, sharing a Pathways screenshot that shows the game’s antagonist telling Charlie “this is proof that immigrants are coming to the UK and taking our jobs.”
Meanwhile, a fan-created video shows an AI-generated Amelia stating, “Hi, I’m Amelia. I’m English, and I love England,” adding, “Brits are famously polite, but it mustn’t mean we’re willing to commit cultural suicide.”
“Our government won’t even protect our schoolgirls from grooming gangs,” Amelia continues. “The police won’t help. They’re too busy confiscating garden tools and suppressing free speech.”
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Another fan-created clip featuring a Manga-style version of the character shows her saying, “The only reason people should be upset with ICE is because they’re not doing enough.”
“These are the purple haired women we want,” one Reddit user declared.
“They thought they were re-educating people but they just handed us a mascot lmao,” another laughed.
“If we all could have an Amelia in our lives, the west would be great again,” a third asserted.
Another Reddit user agreed, describing Amelia as “A woman you’d die for, have children with, provide, sacrifice, and defend,” adding, “She is a sanctuary and a sanctuary is peace.”
On X, a post featuring a woman cosplaying as Amelia while she lights a photo of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on fire with her cigarette — in a clear nod to an Iranian protester’s similar act — racked up over one million views, and 100,000 likes.
The social media platform ended up flooded pro-Amelia posts over the past week.
“I’ve never seen a propaganda campaign backfire this badly. Whoever made the game is probably being grilled by Kier Starmer right now,” one X user reacted.
“UK: let’s make a game where you’re learn to identify racist, undesirable behavior. Also, our antagonist is going to be a cute goth girl. That should keep the boys from making bad choices,” another quipped.
“Amelia has become a Global Icon of Resistance,” another X user proclaimed, adding, “Remigration is Inevitable.”
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“The funniest thing about Amelia’s lore is that *she is exactly the same character in the memes as she was in the Pathways game that the U.K. government created.* We didn’t change a thing. We simply set her free,” another wrote.
Matteo Bergamini, the CEO of Shout Out UK, the company that created the game — which he says was intended to be used in classrooms — told the Guardian that the pro-Amelia memes have taken him by surprise.
“This experience has shown us why this work is so immensely important, but also gives us pause for thought about our safety in conducting this work due to the highly sophisticated coordination of those who profit from hate,” he said.
Bergamini also insisted that the game has been the subject of “misrepresentation,” claiming it does not state “that questioning mass migration is inherently wrong.”
Readers can play the Pathways game here and decide what they think about it for themselves.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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