RUMOR - Import sales of Animal Crossing: New Horizons banned in China due to protesters taking their fight online

Animal Crossing: New Horizons hasn't been released in China yet, but that hasn't stopped Switch owners in the region from picking up import copies. While the purchase of import Switch games in China is no big deal, it seems the Chinese government may take issue with how some players are using the game.

In recent weeks, select players have been creating in-game content to spread the word on the political struggle in Hong Kong. Protests have been going on for months and months in the streets, but with the pandemic impacting China, protesters have taken the fight online in order to stay healthy. Its a movement that has been picking up steam, and rumor has it the Chinese government isn't happy.

While we don't have 100% official confirmation on this yet, it appears that a mandate has been sent out to Alibaba's e-commerce platform Taobao about blocking sales of the game. Furthermore, sellers aren't allow to sell any merchandise tied to the game, as well as hardware. If this is indeed the case, it would certainly put any official localization plans for the game on hold.