Nintendo removes 379 fan games
Source: Hardware Luxx added 07th Jan 2021
It shouldn’t be a secret that Nintendo is known for taking legal action against unlicensed games. In the past, hobby game developers were repeatedly warned by lawyers. It does not matter whether there is a commercial interest in the developed game or not. Now the game publishing community Game Jolt has been hit. Overall 379 games should disappear from the website. According to the published letter on Github, the operator of the website earns from the hosted content. This is due to advertising banners and overlays that appear before each game loads. So far, there seem to be no costs associated with the takedown, it is just a request to delete the said games. However, it is currently unclear whether all of the content requested in the cover letter has been posted.
Game Jolt has already reacted and complied with the demands. All the games that Nintendo complained about have now disappeared from the website. If you look at the corresponding links in detail, the Japanese game company was primarily concerned with Super Mario and Pokemon games. But Zelda homebrew games were also criticized.
Since Nintendo repeatedly encounters similar situations and takes action against hobby developers, the Japanese company could create its own platform on which so-called homebrew games could be published. Among other things, Nintendo would thus have the opportunity to discover and promote young talent.
The developers who released their games on Game Jolt were less enthusiastic about the latest developments. However, it should now be clear that you cannot use content from Nintendo in your own games without the appropriate licensing.
