Taobao Marketplace, a popular e-commerce website, announced that it would ban the sale of unlicensed computer games that have not been approved by China’s Ministry of Culture – specifically that of Diablo III.
The ban cuts off key channels for gamers to get their hands on Blizzard’s action/RPG, as the game is still currently under review by Chinese authorities. The game will only be available when (or if) the game is considered acceptable to the Chinese audience.
But, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’.
Chinese gamers and sellers on the Taobao Marketplace have attached a secretive (or not-so secretive) street-name to Diablo III. The game is being referred to as ‘Big Pineapple’, with vendors and sellers attaching images of pineapples to signify the goods that are really being sold.
Chinese gamers are now able to get their hands on the ‘Big Pineapple’, despite the game still being passed through the hands of the classification board of the country.
Diablo III, er, I mean ‘The Big Pineapple’, recently became the fastest selling PC game of all time with over 6.3 million units in the first week.
Source: Reuters
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