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Porn in Minecraft knockoff? Report gets copycat removed from app stores

Mini World is popular with kids, but reports of players getting invited to group chats and asked for nude photos have created trouble for the developer

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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
For many gamers in China, Mini World: Block Art is just another knockoff of the popular sandbox video game Minecraft. But the mobile app of the kid-friendly game was recently removed from Chinese app stores for allegedly hiding something its young players would never expect to find: Invites to pornography.

A local media investigation found that in addition to collecting virtual wood and building pixelated houses, Mini World players can also find pornographic content if they accept invitations to group chats hidden in message boards and maps.

The report from state-owned outlet The Beijing News claims that players were invited to secret chat groups on local messaging platforms WeChat and QQ to exchange porn, which is illegal in China. The report also says that some players, including minors, were encouraged to send nude photos.
Messages inviting players to group chats were first reported at the beginning of April by vlogger Xie Chenyuan, who said he was asked for nudes after he joined posing as a 12-year-old girl. (Picture: Mini World: Block Art/Xie Chenyuan/Beijing News)
Problems for the game started at the beginning of April, when vlogger Xie Chenyuan was the first to report on messages inviting players to group chats. The Bilibili vlogger said he was asked for nudes after he joined posing as a 12-year-old girl.
But the game remained available until this week, when Mini World announced on Tuesday that the game was pulled from all channels for “rectification.” The company also said it started cleaning up content on April 7th.

So far, the game only seems to be down in mainland China. The app remains available on Google Play and the iOS App Store in Hong Kong and on Steam. We reached out to the developer and will update if we receive a comment.

Mini World: Block Art has been around since 2017, when it was released by Chinese gaming company MiniWan Tech. It’s a free multiplayer game that looks and feels a lot like Minecraft. Gamers can build their own structures inside the game and change character skins.

Despite the uncanny resemblance to the Microsoft-owned game, it was listed in the Most Innovative category in Google Play’s Best Games of 2018. It’s also popular: The game has 80 million monthly players, according to MiniWan.
Surprisingly, many users of microblogging platform Weibo seem to be gloating about Mini World’s recent troubles. The game has long irked players in China who claim that the game copies Minecraft, with some calling Mini World players “mini dogs.” Mini World was also review bombed on Steam, Valve’s popular online game platform.
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