Nintendo comments on Dispatch’s Switch censorship

Nintendo has released a statement regarding the recent censorship of AdHoc’s Dispatch on Switch and Switch 2.

Earlier this week, Dispatch released on Switch consoles. However, many were disappointed to learn there would be some censorship differences on Nintendo’s platforms. In versions of the game as it appears on other platforms, there is an option for players to toggle censorship of explicit content on or off. In the case of Nintendo, though, players were not given this choice, with explicit content censorship being implemented in Dispatch as standard. This saw black boxes covering characters’ exposed breasts and penises, while noises of sexual pleasure were toned down.

At this time, AdHoc said this would not impact Dispatch’s gameplay or narrative, stating these “core” experiences remain “identical to the original release”.

Nintendo has now shared its own statement regarding the Dispatch discourse. “Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organisations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines,” a company spokesperson said in a statement shared with GoNintendo.

“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.”

When it first came to attention that Dispatch would be automatically censored on Switch consoles, many were keen to point out that other games which also featured displays of nudity had not been met with the same stipulations. Games such as Cyberpunk 2077, in which players can customise their Vs genitalia and more, are not censored on Switch consoles in the way Dispatch has been.

That being said, a specific Japanese version of Cyberpunk 2077 was released separately from the game’s standard version, which removed nudity and decapitations. Therefore, some have speculated Dispatch’s censorship issues may have come down to AdHoc not wishing to create a separate release of the game for Japan only. Again, though, this is speculation.

Many of us here at Eurogamer are big fans of Dispatch, and we are far from alone. Soon after its initial release last year, AdHoc announced Dispatch had sold over 1m copies in just 10 days.

Thanks to this success, the studio is now considering a second season (perhaps one with more sex scenes, given the “ravenous” response to the first season).