Fans have been left wondering why the mention of Winnie the Pooh is forbidden Marvel’s Rivals.
NetEase Games’ new online shooter hit the masses with a bang, with over 20 million players trying it out in its first month on the market.
And in any large online community Competitors has had to manage its growing player roster worldwide, fixing exploits with various patches, adding new content for the fan base to enjoy, and promoting (hopefully) a well-intentioned, positive experience for all players.
Why is Winnie the Pooh banned from Marvel Rivals?
One of the words/phrases Marvel’s RivalsA growing list of bans is Winnie the Pooh, which confuses players who may not know the character’s history and the subtext surrounding his online presence.
When trying to type the name of a honey-loving character into the in-game chat, players are greeted with a message that reads: “The text contains inappropriate content.”
Over the past decade and change, Pooh has taken on a somewhat controversial meaning. The beloved Disney character is often brought up when referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and is frequently used by Xi’s critics online.
This goes back to a photo of Xi with former President Barack Obama, in which online commentators compared the two world leaders to Tiger and Pooh. The image eventually became a controversial mainstay of memes, especially around Xi.
Because of this, the mention of Pooh has long offended members of the Chinese government, and the Chinese government has banned the use of the word Pooh in Chinese at events such as the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
This distaste for Winnie the Pooh has spread to Chinese companies, as brands avoid mentioning the character to avoid drawing the attention of the Chinese government.
The Chinese government has not taken kindly to those who do not share their values. On the Marvel movie side, the country has a long history of banning or censoring various MCU movies to suit their view of what Chinese citizens should be exposed to.
For those who didn’t know, Marvel’s Rivals it was developed by the Chinese studio NetEase Games in collaboration with Marvel. So one can see why the game’s development team would ban the mention of Winnie the Pooh in in-game chat.
Pooh’s name is not the only forbidden thing Competitors debate. Other words or phrases typically considered “politically charged” by the Chinese government are also prohibited in-game.
More words on the subject Marvel’s Rivals the banned list includes “Isis”, “Free Taiwan” and “Hitler”.
Of course, like the content Competitors himself (who is currently in the middle of his first in-game event), this ban list is constantly changing.
Marvel’s Rivals is now available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
