Yesterday, Dispatch was finally released for Switch and Switch 2. It is one of last year's most acclaimed games, offering a superhero adventure unlike anything we have seen before. Since you have the opportunity to shape your own story, there are several scenes that may feature nudity from both men and women.
For those who don't want this in their game, it is possible to have the adventure censored. However, this option is not available for Nintendo's format, where everyone has to settle for the censored version. Eurogamer received a comment on the matter from a spokesperson for the developer AdHoc, who explains the discrepancy:
"Different platforms have different content criteria, and submissions are evaluated individually. We worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms, but the core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical to the original release."
Unfortunately, Nintendo's censorship extends further than other formats, which means that even more has been changed or hidden here compared to previous versions. Nintendo Insider has reviewed the Switch edition and writes, for example, that a middle finger is not something gamers should have to see:
"The censorship works the same way it does on PS5/Steam when you enable the option where there is a black rectangle over any remote nudity, but the Switch platform release also appears to censor moments like someone flipping the bird as well."
As you might imagine, this has not been well received on social media. Many note that a game like Cyberpunk 2077, which in many ways is even more explicit, has managed to avoid censorship, and point out that there are several hentai games on the eShop (for example, here and here). We don't actually know why Dispatch has been hit relatively hard, but if Nintendo wants to wash away the label that says their consoles are predominantly for kids, this is probably not the right way to go.
Do you prefer your games with the option to play censored, or is mandatory censorship for everyone a better alternative?