Nintendo Responds to Dispatch Censorship Controversy With Vague Statement

Players expected clarity. What they got? Corporate word soup that explains precisely nothing.

Nintendo's official statement about the Dispatch censorship mess landed yesterday. Fans are calling it a masterclass in saying everything while revealing absolutely nothing. The superhero workplace comedy launched on Switch and Switch 2 on 28th January with permanent visual censorship, sparking immediate backlash from players who discovered they'd bought a gimped version.

What Nintendo Actually Said

Here's the full statement:

"Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organisations 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."

Translation? "We have rules. We told the developer about them. Not our fault. We won't explain further."

The statement contradicts itself within three sentences. Nintendo claims it doesn't make changes to partner content, yet AdHoc Studio previously confirmed they "worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms."

Someone changed something. The question is who blinked first.

The Real Problem Players Face

On PC and PlayStation 5, Dispatch includes three content toggles: Replaced Licensed Music, Visual Censorship, and Profanity Censorship. Players control what they see.

Switch owners get two of those options. Visual Censorship is gone. Black boxes cover nudity permanently. Audio from intimate scenes gets muted entirely. Players encounter a character early on who appears fully naked in multiple scenes. On Switch? Censored. No choice. No toggle. Take it or leave it.

The censorship affects scenes throughout the eight episodes, including moments where the mature content serves the narrative rather than existing for shock value.

The CERO Theory

Community speculation points to Japan's CERO rating system as the culprit. CERO enforces stricter content policies than ESRB or PEGI. The Japanese PS5 version reportedly features identical censorship to the Switch release.

Cyberpunk 2077 avoided this problem on Switch 2 by releasing separate versions. CD Projekt Red created a censored CERO Z-rated version for Japan whilst keeping uncensored versions for other regions. This required extra development resources and separate storefronts.

AdHoc Studio appears to have taken a different path. One censored version. All regions. Lower costs. Angry customers.

Why This Matters

Dispatch isn't some budget shovelware title. The game sold over three million copies within two months, won Steam's Outstanding Story-Rich Game Award, and earned overwhelmingly positive reviews. Former Telltale Games staff built this. Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, and Jeffrey Wright voice major roles.

Players pre-ordered based on the reputation of the uncensored versions. Many are successfully requesting refunds by citing the censorship as their reason.

The controversy exposes Nintendo's inconsistent application of content policies. Witcher 3 runs on Switch with nudity intact. Same with multiple M-rated titles. Why did Dispatch get singled out?

The Developer's Position

AdHoc Studio has remained tight-lipped beyond their initial statement. When pressed about the censorship before launch, a studio representative told GoNintendo that "unfortunately, the studio cannot comment on the topic at this time."

That evasiveness told veteran games media what they needed to know. Something happened behind closed doors. Someone imposed restrictions. AdHoc complied rather than abandon the platform.

The studio faced near-closure due to funding issues during development. They avoided paychecks for six months to pay staff. Critical Role Productions eventually partnered with them to finish the game. That financial pressure likely influenced decisions about regional versions and censorship.

What Comes Next

Nintendo's statement closes the door on further explanation. The company won't discuss specific content criteria or how it reached this decision. AdHoc can't comment. Players who want the complete experience need to buy the PC or PlayStation versions.

Some fans hope for a patch that restores the toggle. Others expect nothing to change. The precedent worries developers bringing mature narrative games to Nintendo platforms.

Will other studios face similar demands? Will they choose to release separate versions or follow AdHoc's approach? Nobody knows. Nintendo won't say.

The censorship controversy overshadows what should have been a triumphant multiplatform launch. Dispatch deserved better. So did the players who supported it.