It’s a sad time for titty lovers everywhere. Last week, the publisher of Hot Tentacles Shooter announced on Twitter that the game will no longer be available on the Nintendo Switch, because Nintendo no longer allows “uncensored boobs” on its consoles.
Originally spotted by Nintendo Everything, the publisher Gamuzumi had been in contact with Nintendo over approving Hot Tentacles Shooter for the Switch. The game is an anime arcade shooter where players rescue young women from tentacle monsters. Their bodies are covered up by tentacles, and you can unlock uncensored images of them once they’re freed from the monsters’ nefarious clutches.
Unfortunately, Nintendo told them that “obscene content” could “damage the brand” and “infringe its policies.” Since Hot Tentacles Shooter includes “boob nudity,” it was rejected during its Switch approval process. Kotaku reached out to Nintendo to ask about how long this policy has been in place, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Topless nudity has previously been allowed on the Nintendo Switch. The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt features sex scenes where the women are fully topless, for instance. As of December 2021, players have confirmed that the breasts are fully uncensored on the Switch port. This has been a problem for players who don’t want their family members walking in. However, the European and the Japanese versions of the games appear to censor the sex scenes.
Gamuzumi intends to censor the game so that it can be published on the Nintendo Switch, but expressed disappointment that the policy will affect other adult games. Their other title Elves Christmas Hentai Puzzle had also been rejected, although the publisher has promised that Hot Tentacles Shooter will still be available on Steam.
Nintendo is very conscious of its family-friendly image, and many Nintendo Switch owners are children. So that’s likely the reason why the publisher is taking a harder stance on adult content compared to Steam’s hentai free-for-all.
Nevertheless, the policy enforcement seems awfully inconsistent. Witcher 3 is one of the top selling RPGs in the world, and Nintendo didn’t seem to have any issue with Yennifer’s much more realistic cleavage for at least two years. Nintendo has not commented on whether or not the policy has been changed.
“[The new policy] probably will affect not only our games but also games from other publishers/devs,” Gamuzumi tweeted.