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China is well known for its strict government censorship that extends to many areas of life
for the Chinese population.
Internet access, for example, is strictly limited and monitored, with this being referred
to in the west as The Great Firewall Of China.
Censorship in China also extends to video games, which are very strictly regulated in
the country.
For instance, video game consoles were completely banned in China until only 2015.
Following the ban being lifted, this then paved the way for companies like Nintendo
to release their consoles in the country - with the official Chinese release of the Nintendo
Switch coming in December 2019, nearly three years later than the rest of the world.
However, the Chinese regulatory environment remains extremely strict.
For games to be officially released in the country, games' content must first be evaluated
and approved by the government.
This approval process is infamous for having very long wait times, and there was also a
complete freeze on new approvals in 2018 from March all the way until December.
As reported by Bloomberg, the halt was due to a "restructuring of power among departments"
and that "regulators have also been concerned about violence and gambling in some games."
This regulatory environment means that despite the Nintendo Switch's official release in
December 2019, only a handful of games have been approved for a release to go with it.
And of the games that have currently been released, many of the most popular system-selling
titles are missing, and this includes games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the
Wild and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
However, it's extremely likely that Animal Crossing will never be released in China,
just like it is for a number of other titles that most people would deem to be very child-friendly
and appropriate.
And, in fact, Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been de-facto banned in the country since
2020.
Super Mario Maker 2, another game that most would deem to be very child-friendly, has
been de-facto banned since 2020 as well.
Both Animal Crossing and Super Mario Maker 2 had not been officially released in the
country.
However, due to the strict regulations and lack of official releases, most Chinese gamers
will choose to purchase import copies from other regions.
There is a huge market for gaming-related imports in China, with this being seen as
a legal gray area.
By large, though, the Chinese government appears to overlook the import market, and crackdowns
on it are quite rare, although they can happen from time to time.
It is mainly only for the sale of very specific items where the government will intervene
much more heavily.
And this is precisely what has happened to Animal Crossing and Super Mario Maker.
In June 2020, Super Mario Maker 2 was suddenly taken down all across e-commerce websites
in China.
As was reported across Chinese language media, a user had uploaded a Mario Maker level that
was full of insults towards the Chinese president.
The level was uploaded on May 28th by a user with the name "8964!!"
Even just the user's name would be extremely controversial with the Chinese government.
The 89 references the year 1989, while the 64 references June 4th.
Put them together, and you have June 4th, 1989, which is the date of the Tiananmen Square
protests.
According to Chinese Nintendo, a Twitter account that covers Nintendo in Chinese-speaking countries,
a lot of the user-generated insults came from typos the Chinese president has made during
speeches, as well as various popular nicknames.
Over on the Chinese language version of Wikipedia, there is an article on controversies regarding
the Chinese president, with an entire section revolving around speaking errors he has made.
Here there are numerous examples of him reading things incorrectly and mispronouncing words.
This can sometimes mean him saying completely different words and phrases instead and causing
much hilarity amongst some of the Chinese population.
There is also a Chinese language page for negative nicknames given to the president.
While many people will likely be familiar with the popular Winnie The Pooh nickname
he has, there are many others, such as Accelerator-in-Chief.
Accelerator-in-Chief even has an English language entry, where it explains that the term became
popular in 2020 and comes from the president's internal and foreign policies, which are seen
as accelerating the eventual collapse of the Chinese Communist Party.
It is content like these that were being added to Super Mario Maker 2, leading to the government
cracking down on it and pulling it from stores.
The reasons for Animal Crossing's ban are very similar.
Prior to the government intervening in April 2020, players had been uploading islands in
the game featuring controversial content.
The types of controversial content were varied, but one big source of trouble came from players
creating islands to coincide with the real-life pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
This island, for example, comes from Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong, who is currently
imprisoned for taking part in demonstrations in the country.
The island features images of the Chinese president, as well as Hong Kong Chief Executive
Carrie Lam.
It also displays the activist slogan "Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now."
This slogan is now banned in Hong Kong, with the government announcing July 2nd, 2020,
that anyone who uses the slogan can be prosecuted under the national security law that commenced
a few days prior on June 30th.
Aside from the content related to the Hong Kong protests, other controversial content
that was being uploaded include, like Mario Maker, insults towards the president.
However, there were also users uploading content related to the recent Covid-19 pandemic and
featuring disparaging sentiments towards the Chinese government's handling of it.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a huge hit in China, too.
Despite not being officially released, it has been estimated that over one million import
copies had been sold prior to the ban.
Owing to its popularity, the game was being heavily discussed across Chinese social media.
This, however, includes users taking screenshots and videos of the controversial content and
racking up millions of views - which likely accelerated the game's ban only a few weeks
after release.
On April 10th, the game was completely pulled across Chinese e-commerce platforms.
And, unlike Mario Party, all Animal Crossing-related merchandise was forced to be taken down as
well.
Other measures that were taken by the Chinese government include removing the game's hashtag
from Weibo, which is China's most popular social media platform.
And the government also conducted big sweeps on many brick and mortar stores and confiscated
any copies of the game that they could find, with this including even mom and pop stores.
Meanwhile, from across the pond, the Premier of Taiwan commented on the matter on Facebook,
saying they "will not ban a game where you pick up tree branches and grow turnips" and
that players should "feel free to make fun of the government."
However, even now, more than a year later, the only way to get your hands on the game
in China is trading under the counter or buying a digital copy from another region.
It has been argued across Chinese websites, however, that it seems impossible to prevent
incidents like these from happening when it comes to games that allow user-generated content.
And so, for any games that allow users to interact like this, they may very well also
find themselves facing similar action.
And another thing that has started to happen is developers being more cautious about this
and pre-emptively modifying Chinese versions of games.
For instance, the Chinese version of Minecraft has banned text from in-game signs and books.
While this puts a stop to incidents like Animal Crossing and Mario Party occurring, this type
of heavy-handed approach has been severely criticized by fans.
But, with China now being the leading gaming market by revenue worldwide, game companies
are becoming increasingly careful of the differing attitudes and regulations.
Analysts also predict that China's market presence is set to continue to grow, with
this largely being spearheaded by the Chinese tech giant Tencent.
However, its strict laws and limits on freedom of expression can make penetrating this market
an even greater challenge for foreign entities.
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and a big thanks once again
to NordVPN for sponsoring today's video.
Until next time, thank you for watching.