Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been an incredibly successful return from the franchise after an 8-year absence of a main title in the series. While many are enjoying the critically acclaimed title, in certain countries New Horizons is harder to get. A country that the developer of the game, Nintendo, has struggled for many years to sell its goods in is China. There had been loopholes that allowed players to get imports of consoles and titles but these avenues now seem to be closed.
The most recent Animal Crossing title has been a huge hit commercially and like most contemporary games, there is an expectation that the title would be available worldwide. However, China has strict rules and like most countries monitor what imports come into the countries. In this instance, a game based around socializing and building an island could not sway regulation which has been difficult for console distributors to maneuver around for many years.
Many players have managed to ger Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch in China through a localized eBay equivalent called Taobao. This site has now been updated to deliver fans the unfortunate news that they can no longer order items like New Horizons. It seems that the title has been removed because of regulation set in 2017 that prevents the selling of imported games. Although disappointing, it is not incredibly surprising that this removal has occurred as the country does not approve many games that are created outside of the country and this move is an extension of the country banning first-party sales of non-approved gaming items.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been a widely discussed game, for mainly positive reasons such as players creating unique islands in the game. Many players who want to partake in the community around Animal Crossing will now be disappointed if they have not already picked up the game. The regulation may once again be edited and there have been rumors of Nintendo editing its content to make it commercially viable in China. These discussions may provide hope for keen Nintendo players.
Plenty of fans are excited about the new updates coming to Animal Crossing: New Horizons and there will be disappointment that events are not enjoyed worldwide. With that said, if Nintendo is determined to work with Chinese regulation, as seems to be the case with recent Pokemon updates, there may be a chance that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will return to the market.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.
