Animal Crossing: New Horizons Has Been Banned in China

China — or more specifically, the Chinese government — is banning Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo and 2020’s hit new game. Why? Because Chinese players are using the game to protest some of the controversial or divisive policies of the Chinese government. As a result of players doing this, Chinese re-selling marketplace Taobao has been banned from selling the game at all. According to Business Insider, the ban comes directly from Chinese regulators, who have used an old, rarely used policy to enforce the ban.

Speaking to the aforementioned outlet, industry analyst Daniel Ahmad noted that games that get the ban hammer from the Chinese government get it for one of two reasons: the game has content or user generated content that is deemed too offensive or violent or a game has become so popular that it catches the attention of the regulators. Unfortunately, for Nintendo, Animal Crossing: New Horizons checks both of these boxes.

While the game itself is not offensive in any shape or form, it allows for user generated content, which is what’s causing issues in China. For example, despite the fact the game isn’t officially being sold in China, some Chinese players are using the game for virtual protests, while others are using it show solidity with Hong Kong.

That said, the ban may not sit well with many given how popular the game is in China. Speaking to this, the aforementioned Ahamd noted that “even places like the Shanghai Fire Dept. used [‘Animal Crossing‘] to create some in game messages.”

As for how Chinese players are getting their hands on the game, most are simply importing it from other regions, while others are just changing the region of their Nintendo Switch in order to download the game.

At the moment of publishing, Nintendo has not provided a comment on the situation.