China Pulls Animal Crossing From General Sale

Animal Crossing is undoubtedly one of the biggest releases for the Nintendo Switch so far in 2020 and, if the sales are anything to go by, it’s doing remarkably well. In a report via the BBC, however, the game has just seen a pretty heavy blow. Namely, that it’s (essentially) just been banned in China!

Why you ask? Well, apparently a number of its residents are using it as a means of promoting a free Hong Kong.

Animal Crossing – Where China Doesn’t Want ‘New Horizons’

With the game allowing people to create personalized islands, the game has reportedly become the center of a very sticky political topic. Namely, that many residents in Hong Kong want to breakaway from the Chinese government and form their own independent nation. A movement which the Chinese media has been doing all it can to stamp down.

Well, getting back to the customization, many Chinese people on the game have been using their island to effectively promote this political ideology. With them able to invite people to ‘visit’ it as well, the Chinese government is clearly more than a little worried. So much so, in fact, that they’ve pulled the game from all retail shelves! It’s not officially banned, but this is certainly as good as!

What Do We Think?

Due to delays in China’s recently structured censorship board, the irony is that Animal Crossing hasn’t yet (officially) been rated in the country. So, where did they get it you ask? Well, it’s largely been through retailers obtaining foreign imports. With this move in effect, however, there are no two ways about it. Animal Crossing New Horizons is banned in China!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!