Yesterday, IGN published an article asking Nintendo representatives about how the company plans to deal with the so-called "
growing epidemic of 'slop' games" on the eShop, and the representative got a little too informative on what exactly the company's new policies are, informing the interviewer:
https://archive.ph/1feBU
<Many of the new guidelines discuss “sensitive content,” and include specific rules for what qualifies as sensitive content in the first place. Listed criteria that “would be considered damaging to the Nintendo brand” include sexualization of children, overly sexual content, discrimination and hate, exploitation of social issues (“Content that clearly exploits a topical and controversial social issue, tragedy, or catastrophic event”), instructing criminal activity, and political statements (“Content that overtly supports or criticizes real-life countries, organizations, or ideologies”). Nintendo states in the guidelines that it reserves the right not to distribute a game, but claims it offers the guidelines to help developers understand its reasoning in certain situations. “We encourage you to take this information into consideration when developing content for potential release on our platforms and before submitting such content to Nintendo,” the guidelines state. It also disclaims that the guidelines are not an exhaustive list, and that sometimes “determinations may be made on a regional basis.”
This only further solidifies theories people have been having about how Nintendo is presently going down the same path Sony did back in 2018 with their censorship guidelines. As just like how Shuhei Yoshida stated that the company wants games for "all kinds of people" during that time:
https://archive.ph/X2wGz
Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser made the following statement back in April:
https://archive.ph/nrYHD
<We always want to attract the best talent we can and retain that talent. We also believe it’s important for that talent to be diverse in terms of their backgrounds, their experiences, and their understandings because our players are diverse. So we strive to have diversity that reflects our players in our organization.
This is on top of unconfirmed reports that Nintendo of Japan is demanding for games to be censored, if not cancelled, on the Switch:
https://archive.is/ApYH8#post-1477584
Reports that games on the eShop are being shadowbanned:
https://archive.ph/04lJ4
And other strange policies going into place such as the obscure software region-locking of the Switch 2:
https://archive.ph/I9KmI
Keep in mind that this is a complete reversal of the company's policies from six years ago. Back in 2019, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa made the following declaration in response to a question about restricting content:
https://archive.ph/RkxJm
>Q11: Regarding restrictions on expression. Some other platforms have their own restrictions other than third-party organizations such as CERO. How about Nintendo?
<A11: Nintendo entrusts a third-party organization with the task of providing objective ratings for its own products and third-party software prior to its release. If the platform operator arbitrarily chooses to do so, it would seriously impede the diversity and fairness of game software. The parental control function also allows for restrictions to be put in place.
And, while I say "six years", it appears that this policy has been present since 2022/2023, given the known Switch games that have been exclusively censored, cancelled, or are entirely missing without explanation:
>2022
<Hot Tentacles Shooter (Canceled)
https://archive.ph/rAxny
<Duel Princess (Pulled after release)
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