Nintendo on the inappropriate use of its intellectual property and games: “Action must be taken”

During Nintendo’s 84th annual general meeting, company president Shuntaro Furukawa was asked how Nintendo handles “cases on social media where Nintendo IP and games are used inappropriately” when such “behavior poses a risk of damaging the value” of its brand.

While Furukawa declined to comment on “individual cases,” he did mention that “appropriate action must be taken against any behavior that undermines the Japanese company’s policy of “creating smiles through entertainment.” The company will also “continue to make every effort to ensure” that its “consumers do not feel uncomfortable” when they come into contact with Nintendo’s intellectual property, “not only” in its games, but also “everywhere” they come into contact with it.

Shuntaro Furukawa: “Our company aims to implement our management policy of ‘Making smiles with entertainment’ by offering unique games that everyone can intuitively enjoy. I will not comment on individual cases, but we believe that any behavior that undermines this policy must be subject to appropriate action.

“Our goal is to create an environment where everyone can enjoy gaming. We will continue to make every effort to ensure that our consumers do not feel uncomfortable, not only in our games, but also everywhere they come into contact with our intellectual property.”

Although no specific cases were mentioned, as Eurogamer notes, there was a point in 2018 when a fan creation named Bowsette (a mashup of Peach and Bowser) went viral on social media and elsewhere online. Nintendo’s official response at the time was “no comment,” and eventually the hype surrounding the fan-made character died down.

Beyond social media, Nintendo has targeted fan projects deemed inappropriate and potentially damaging to its brand value. In September 2020, it took aim at a cheeky fan-made game featuring Princess Peach. More recently, it filed a DMCA against a remix project by Rhythm Heaven, and just this week it continued its crackdown on Switch piracy, filing two new lawsuits.