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Nintendo Says It Didn’t Censor Dispatch, Responds to Player Backlash

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AdHoc Studio's Dispatch header image

Ever since we covered the censorship of AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch, we’ve been waiting replies from the developer and Nintendo. While neither have gotten back to us, the popular Nintendo news website, Go Nintendo did receive a statement from Nintendo regarding this, which you can see.

Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines. While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content. We also do not discuss specific content or the criteria used in making these determinations.

So, what exactly does this mean?

Basically, this is PR spin, where Nintendo states two different things. The first is that Nintendo doesn’t make changes to developer’s content. But follows up by saying, if their games don’t meet their guidelines, then they don’t get to be posted, so Nintendo nudges them and tells them this.

Now, we can’t forget that Nintendo of Japan and CERO (Consumer Entertainment Rating Organization) are a thing and nudity is a big no-no when it comes to either. And if just a nipple slip, is enough to cause CERO to flat out deny something. Still, a toggle, just like in the other versions could have been enough to satisfy this, right?

Of course, a developer and publisher wants to get its stuff on Nintendo’s platforms, so they make the changes. So, Nintendo isn’t directly making the changes, but they are still a reason why. Adhoc has yet to reply to us or anyone else about this as of yet.

AdHoc Studio Dispatch Gameplay

It is also worth noting that this is not the first-time concerns about Nintendo’s content standards have surfaced. Beginning in early last year, several smaller developers publicly discussed increased scrutiny around certain types of content on Nintendo platforms.
In at least one case involving Idea Factory, alternate regional versions of a title were released through a separate publisher in Asia with English language support, making them accessible to importers who wanted the uncensored experience. Situations like these have led some players to believe that platform requirements, rather than purely developer choice, can play a significant role in how games are altered for release.
And while myself and others have mentioned Cyberpunk 2077 in the conversation, it would seem that CDPR did in fact make two different versions of the game to get around this mess. It stinks that AdHoc Studios got caught up in this mess, trying to get into the graces of Nintendo, but upsetting its fan base in the progress. Sadly, as we’ve reported on prior, they aren’t the first company to have adult themed content in its games and they won’t be the last. But you can’t ignore the popularity of the Switch and Switch 2, so what is a smaller developer to do?
That’s a good question that has yet to be answered.
Keith Mitchell - Headshot-PS_Gear_400x400

Keith D. Mitchell is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Outerhaven, covering games and tech for over 14 years. A lifelong PC gamer who began building PCs at age eight, he is a hardware enthusiast, Soulslike devotee, and regular attendee of major gaming and technology events.