It appears that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been disappearing from virtual shelves in China following news reports of Hong Kong protesters spreading their message through the game. Copies of the game have gone absent from online shopping sites Taobao and Pinduoduo, but so far there are still ways to get your hands on the game in the country.

In early April 2020 US Gamer reported that Hong Kong protestors adopted Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a new way to spread their message online. The "Free Hong Kong – Revolution Now" slogan started appearing in Animal Crossing screenshots on Facebook and Twitter days after the game release, with the introduction of the ACPatterns tool making it easy to add custom images to the game.

While the game has not been officially approved in China yet, Chinese gamers could obtain a copy of the game by changing their Switch eShop region or buying an imported copy from a seller in an online shop such as Taobao or Pinduoduo.

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

Now it appears that the Chinese authorities have come up with a response to the game's unwanted popularity, as both Taobao and Pinduoduo have pulled the Animal Crossing: New Horizons from their virtual shelves, Reuters reported.

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. pic.twitter.com/Z3ovTDPfnO

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) April 10, 2020

It is not yet entirely clear whether the game being pulled is a directive from the Chinese content regulator or a precautionary measure taken by the shops. Despite the game's disappearance from Taobao and Pinduoduo, a copy can still be obtained from certain other stores or via switching the eShop region.

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.

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) April 10, 2020

In February 2020, China banned the popular strategy game Plague Inc. amid the coronavirus outbreak.