Pikmin actually called "Taiwan, China" to start a protest against playing! Players worry that their movement trajectories will be controlled by Chinese companies

The official announcement of the Pikmin mobile game "Pikmin Bloom" uses "Taiwan, China" to anger Taiwanese players. (Picture/photo taken from official website)

The Pikmin mobile game "Pikmin Bloom" has set off a craze in Taiwan in recent years. Players can often be seen planting flowers while walking on the street. Taiwanese players have also shown amazing "lesson strength", contributing 52% of the world's consumption, becoming the largest market. However, some netizens discovered that the official announcement of the game actually referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan, China", which caused a large number of Taiwanese players to be dissatisfied, so they threatened to delete their accounts and refuse to play the game.

Pikmin’s announcement that “Taiwan, China” caused internet outrage

This controversy originated from the discovery by Threads netizens that as long as the language of the official announcement was switched to simplified Chinese, the words "Taiwan, China" would appear. However, after switching back to traditional Chinese, the related words disappeared, making netizens question the official's double-dealing. What is even more unacceptable to players is that "Pikmin Bloom" is not currently officially open for play in China.

After the news was exposed, it quickly triggered a backlash from Taiwanese players. They left messages angrily criticizing, "I'm going to delete my account," "I don't want to play at all," and "Taiwan is Taiwan." Some players also reported that although their mobile phones were set to use Traditional Chinese, they recently received official Simplified Chinese notifications from “Pikmin Bloom”, further increasing their dissatisfaction.

In the face of player protests, the game officials quietly removed the relevant announcements containing the words "Taiwan, China". However, they have not yet publicly stated the reasons, nor have they officially responded to the controversy. It is still difficult to quell the anger of Taiwanese players.

Taiwanese players are worried about their mobile trajectories heading to China

This incident has also caused some players to worry about whether personal information such as movement trajectories accumulated during daily games may flow to China. "Pikmin Bloom" was originally authorized by Nintendo and developed and operated by Niantic of the United States. In 2025, with the sale of Niantic's game business, it was taken over by Scopely. Scopely was acquired by Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, as early as 2023. In addition, Scopely will invest in Chinese game developer Bokura in 2026. Tencent is also one of Bokura's shareholders. This indirect business relationship has also aroused discussion among players.

Since "Pikmin Bloom" is a mobile game that combines real-world geographical locations, players cultivate Pikmin, plant flowers and challenge mushrooms on foot, so positioning information is an important part of the game's operation. According to the official privacy policy, the game will obtain location information through GPS, Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile phone base stations, and collect game records and device data. If the user allows background positioning, the system may still collect location information in the background even if the game is not directly operated.

However, the existence of investment relationships between companies does not mean that player data will flow to China. There is currently no concrete evidence that the movement trajectories of Taiwanese players have been transmitted to China. For Taiwanese players, in addition to hoping for an official response to the controversy over the title "Taiwan, China", they also look forward to further clarification on issues such as the location of personal data storage, cross-border transmission methods, and third-party access rights to eliminate doubts.