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Taobao has recalled physical copies of the popular video game from Japanese game maker Nintendo. Animal crossing of your market
Because it is important: The game, which runs on Nintendo’s Switch video game console, has shocked the world after the release of its latest in a series, New Horizons, last month, while a global pandemic has forced the world to find home entertainment.
- While the Switch gaming console was officially available in China in December with the help of Chinese online gaming giant Tencent, the popular Animal crossing The series is not available on the console in the country, largely due to China’s strict gaming licensing policy.
- Players have turned to e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba’s online marketplace, Taobao, and the second-hand Xianyu trading platform for retail versions of the game imported from abroad. A Pingwest report on Thursday said a physical copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizon It was priced at RMB 600 (around $ 85.3) on Taobao, which is 40% more expensive than its official $ 49.99 tag.
Details: A Taobao seller of physical copies of Animal crossing confirmed to TechNode on Friday that Taobao has withdrawn the items for “violating site rules,” but the platform gave no specific reasons. The seller prefers to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject.
- Searches Taobao with keywords such as Chinese translations of “Animal crossing“OR”Animal Crossing: New Horizons“It doesn’t yield any gaming-related results on Taobao, according to the TechNode review.
- A Chinese gaming blogger wrote on social media on Friday that an attempt by a Xianyu user to post an article related to the Animal crossing Game failed. Xianyu said the article is a “smuggling” article, according to a screenshot provided by the blogger.
- It is unknown why the game was phased out by e-commerce platforms in China, but regulators ignore sales of physical online games. An Alibaba representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Context: A few days before the removal of the game, Bloomberg reported that pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have started posting anti-government posters on the island’s life simulation game. Users can visit the virtual islands of other players in the game using the Nintendo Network.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons It sold more than 2.6 million physical copies in its first 10 days for sale in Japan alone, according to sales figures from Japanese digital games magazine Famitsu.
- The game has also propelled Switch hardware sales to new heights, according to The Verge. Game console sales hit 392,000 in the week the game launched, the highest seven-day total for the Switch.
- In February, the popular infection simulation game Plague Inc. was removed from Chinese app stores when the Covid-19 outbreak intensified in the country.
