Thread by @ZhugeEX

Animal Crossing does not have an official release in China, but fans could still buy an imported version of the game from overseas.

Today, listings of the game were removed from Taobao (It's like ebay) and fans can no longer purchase the game from the site.

Thread below>

China strictly regulates the video games market and requires that games and consoles must be approved before being officially distributed in the country.

Recently, Tencent worked with Nintendo Switch to get approval for Switch hardware sales which officially launched Dec 2019.

However, the approval process is long, cumbersome and requires content to be inline with China's gaming regulations.

So far only NSMBU, MK8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey are the only Nintendo games to have been officially approved by China's gaming regulator to launch.

Animal Crossing does not have approval in China and there isn't an official China version of the game, but that doesn't stop people buying it and the game has become extremely popular in China. Even places like the Shanghai Fire dept used AC to create some in game messages.

The imported version of Animal Crossing is basically just the JP or NA or EU version imported into China. It can be purchased via:

1. Online retailers like Taobao
2. Mom & Pop game stores in China that imported it.
3. Change eshop to NA/JP and download on your Switch.

Today, Taobao sellers announced that they can no longer distribute the import version of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. There is no official legal version of the game so in essence there is no way to buy Animal Crossing on Taobao now.

Searching for the game gives a blank page.

The order comes from China's regulators and is essentially them imposing an old policy from 2017.

Taobao 'banned' the sale of imported video game discs and cartridges back in 2017, but this is something that hasn't really been enforced all that much, only on select games.

The games where this policy has been enforced in the past usually fall under two criteria.

1. The game has content or user generated content that is deemed to be too offensive or violent etc.
2. The game has become very popular and caught the attention of regulators.

e.g. GTAV

In this case Animal Crossing is impacted by both points.

1. User generated content in the game has been used by Hong Kong protestors and for other politically sensitive user generated content.

2. The game is extremely popular on social media and everyone knows about it.

This means that gamers in China can no longer directly purchase the import version of the game from Taobao.

However, the game itself is unaffected. Players can still play the game offline or online on their imported Nintendo Switch consoles.

There are still ways to purchase the game also.

1. Mom & Pop stores
2. eShop via switching region
3. Contact a Taobao seller privately and in most cases they will still sell you the game under the counter.

That being said, this will no doubt impact overall sales/availability.

As to whether there will be an 'officially approved' version of the game is up for debate. China regulators may not approve an official version of the game in the future due to user generated content and political sensitivities, but that didn't stop Minecraft from being approved.

In summary:

- Animal Crossing does not have an official release in China, prompting fans to import the game from overseas.
- Taobao, the main platform that sells the import ver., was ordered to stop selling the game. Based on an old policy.
- The game still operates normally.