A video game developed by Nintendo Switch was removed from China’s grey market ecommerce platforms. The game was pulled off after protest from Joshua Wong, a Hong Kong activist, against the rule of Beijing of the Chinese territory. A colorful social simulator, the game was titled ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’. The players were given the option of decorating their own island and could also invite others for a visit. It was launched the previous month and became an instant hit. The game has been used by a number of players for stimulating real-life scenarios and interacting while they are locked in at home as part of the measures for curbing the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Last week, a Hong Kong democracy activist, Joshua Wong took his protest to Twitter. He posted a screenshot of his island that was decorated with a banner, which said ‘Free Hong Kong, revolution now’. Stringent rules have been imposed on content by China and they apply on everything from movies to video games to music. They censor anything they believe might be in violation of their core socialist values. Gaming companies are also required to obtain licenses for the games they wish to publish. Console sales were launched in China by Nintendo in December with tech giant Tencent.
However, Chinese players can only get multiplayer access for games like Animal Crossing through foreign additions that can be found on grey market platforms, such as Taobao and Pinduoduo. But, after Joshua Wong posted the screenshot on Twitter, the Animal Crossing: New Horizons game could no longer be found by people on Pinduoduo. As far as Alibaba-owned Taobao is concerned, some vendors are directing buyers towards listings that sell the game without mentioning its name in the description. The purpose is to circumvent the crackdown against the game and continue selling it to people.
Some players of Animal Crossing in China have created difference scenarios that are similar to the real world. Some of the players have avatars wearing face masks and temperature check points. Since then, Joshua Wong has shared more pictures of his island online that show portraits of World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a funeral simulation in the game. The sign says ‘Wuhan pneumonia’. He posted on Twitter and said that this is what all the plaers were doing on Animal Crossing. He added that this was the reason all of them were anxious to get back to playing it.
It remains unclear whether the game was pulled on the directive of the country’s regulator or was done voluntarily by ecommerce platforms that are politically sensitive. Pinduoduo and Alibaba representatives were not available for comment regarding this matter.
In February, a game called Plague Inc. was pulled from the Chinese version of Apple’s app store. The game allowed players to create a pathogen for destroying the world. It was removed because regulators said that the game included illegal content and was not suitable for the public.
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