Chinese Overwatch gamers declare they’re being immediately banned from the game for typing the phrases ‘Winnie the Pooh’ in public chat. Over the previous few days, a number of gamers have posted throughout boards and social media, complaining about their bans, which they are saying are the results of referencing the fictional character.
The claims appear to originate from a put up on Chinese social media website Weibo. According to a translated model of that put up (by way of Dexerto), a participant was banned after responding to a query posted in public chat: “anyone knows who is best friend of Tigger?”
They say that “at that time I didn’t know it was a trap, so I think about it and say “Winnie the Pooh.” They say that their account was instantly banned. Another put up (translated by way of resetera) made related claims, and Overwatch’s Chinese boards now appear to be overrun with gamers who’ve fallen prey to the trick, with some claiming that Blizzard should not responding positively to appeals. Other gamers declare that the time period ‘Tigger’ is now additionally triggering bans.
We’ve reached out to Blizzard to confirm the accuracy of those claims.
If true, the bans are very more likely to relate to a meme evaluating Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh. The fictional bear is predicated on a teddy bear belonging to the son of unique creator A.A. Milne, and first appeared in 1926. The tales have been tailored by Disney in 1966, and the animated model of the character has seen repeated comparisons to the Chinese chief.
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This is simply the newest videogame-related controversy regarding the character. An easter egg hidden inside recently-released horror game Devotion featured the words “Xi Jinping Winnie the Pooh moron.” That triggered the game to be review-bombed by Chinese gamers, earlier than finally being pulled from Steam pending a “complete QA check.”
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