Pokemon Legends: Arceus is set to debut on January 28, and it looks to be a pretty significant departure from previous Pokemon installments on the Nintendo Switch. A semi-open-world affair it won't be a true open-world experience it’s the sort of mold-breaking experience for which Pokemon fans have been clamoring for following the relatively formulaic Let’s Go and Sword and Shield games. However, Nintendo seems to be particularly protective of the property of late, recently striking down footage posted to Twitter of a fan-made Pokemon game.
Developed in Unreal Engine by Twitter user Dragon_GameDev2, the Twitter post in question originally depicted a first-person shooter fan game set in the Pokemon universe, and the player could be seen gunning down various recognizable creatures from the franchise. The juxtaposition of firearms and streams of gore with vibrant outdoor environments and colorful Pokemon certainly seemed like an odd one, and the copyright holder didn’t waste much time in expunging it from public view.
In recent years, Nintendo has been notoriously stingy with its intellectual properties. Pursuing legal action against emulation sites and shutting down labor-of-love projects featuring iconic characters from the Legend of Zelda, Mario, and Metroid franchises, Nintendo has earned the ire of a significant portion of its fanbase. Worse still, the recent controversy surrounding the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack upset some fans. Though perfectly within Nintendo’s legal rights, attacking emulation while offering what was construed by some as an expensive and often inferior product - with Nintendo 64 game emulation of particular concern - rubbed many the wrong way.
While Dragon_GameDev2’s work can still be viewed on Reddit, Nintendo’s actions against the fan-made project shouldn’t be particularly surprising. Given the new open-world direction of Pokemon Legends: Arceus, Nintendo may be worried that some fans could conflate the violent and unorthodox fan-made effort with its official work. There’s ostensibly zero chance that anything seen in Dragon_GameDev2’s clips will appear in the upcoming Pokemon game, but Nintendo may want to do everything in its power to ensure that the two aren’t compared.
It’s also worth noting that, even on the original Twitter post, reactions weren’t totally positive. While many users seemed to understand it as a humorous subversion of archetypal Pokemon fare, some argued that it was in poor taste. Others argued that the project seemed destined to catch the attention of Nintendo’s legal team, prophecies that quickly turned out to be true. The future of Dragon_GameDev2’s Pokemon fan effort seems to be in jeopardy, and this move also sets an unfortunate precedent for other amateur developers looking to experiment with beloved video game IPs or even use elements from them in YouTube videos.