Chinese 'Overwatch' Players Are Getting Instabans Over Winnie the Pooh

The Chinese government doesn't like Winnie the Pooh memes, so much so that apparently now [...]

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The Chinese government doesn't like Winnie the Pooh memes, so much so that apparently now Overwatch players who type "Winnie the Pooh" in chat during a match, not only get an instant ban-hammer, but a permanent ban-hammer.

As you may know, the beef between Disney's Winnie the Pooh and China can be traced back to memes that reference current Chinese president Xi Jinping as the honey-loving bear. The memes are blocked on Chinese Internet, and China has even tried to block Winnie the Pooh all together.

The ban against Christopher Robbin's best friend has gotten so extreme that apparently even referencing the character in a match of Overwatch gets your account banned, or at least that's what one Chinese Overwatch player claimed happened via a post on Weibo, a Chinese social media site that is basically Twitter.

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(Photo: Weibo via Reddit)

If you aren't well-versed in Mandarin Chinese, no worries, here's a translation via Reddit user bata12:

"Now there are a group of people in Overwatch, that send some harmless content in chat, but if you reply to it, your action would be 'insulting leaders of our country.'

"Yesterday I was playing QP with my friends. We were on attack in Junkertown, when a guy named Mikasamikoto says 'Anyone knows who is the best friend of Tigger?', at that time I didn't know it was a trap, so I thought about it and said 'Winnie-The-Pooh,' then my account got banned within like 3 seconds.

"Now I've made an appeal for it but don't know if it will work. After I got banned, I searched for it and then I just found out what it means. Blizzard banned us innocent players so quickly, but those who make trap for others to fall for are still out there.

"My friend played Overwatch for 2,120 hours, all of his money and time are all wasted now...Does Blizzard think everyone who plays Overwatch knows the hidden meanings under every words? Blizzard, please give us victims some justice!"

It appears the ban is automatic, meaning when it sees "Winnie the Pooh" in the chat, it deals out a permanent ban instantly.

At the moment of publishing, there's been no comment from Blizzard about the issue.

As you may know, this isn't the first time Winnie the Pooh has caused troubles for a game recently. Just this week, indie horror game Devotion had to be pulled by its developers from Steam after Chinese players discovered a Winnie the Pooh meme in the game and thus decided to review bomb the product in mass.

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