In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, protestors in China have moved to online protesting as physical gatherings become difficult and dangerous to conduct. One way they are continuing to voice their concerns is through the recently released video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons allows players to explore and customize their own island and invite other players to visit. Players in China have used this as an opportunity to continue the "Free Hong Kong - Revolution Now" protests.
This is how #hongkong ppl spend our time during coronavirus lockdown - villain hitting in #animalcrossing, the villain is #CarrieLam, the worst governor in #hongkong history.#AnimalCrossingNewHorizons#StandWithHK pic.twitter.com/K5AbOTl9tD
— Studio Incendo (@studioincendo) April 1, 2020
China has strict censorship laws in place so Nintendo's current best-selling video game has yet to be approved but people could order imported copies from local online stores. Now, with these online protests taking place, even foreign copies have disappeared from online listings.
Whether the game was removed due to intervention from Chinese authorities or was proactively removed by stores is still unclear.
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