Nintendo releases statement after Dispatch censorship controversy, and it helps validate a popular theory

It is fair to say that Dispatch’s release on Switch has not gone down as well as the initial launch. This comes after the controversy of Nintendo censoring any nudity and swearing, not giving players a chance to alter it in the form of a setting.

Now, Nintendo has downplayed its role in censoring the episodic action-adventure with a statement. This comes after developers AdHoc Studio first spoke out, effectively blaming Nintendo for the censorship.

The initial quote is as follows:

“AdHoc Studio has 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.”

What has Nintendo said regarding the censorship of Dispatch? 

Nintendo has now given its side of the story:

“Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations 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.” 

While the statement is vague, it does lend us a hand in helping to validate a popular theory as to why the game is censored for everyone.

The theory states that it is down to the fact that AdHoc Studio only okayed a Japanese version of the game on Switch, meaning that the frequent nudity that is present in the title would not have passed the country’s censorship laws.

This theory is backed up by a Reddit post, which displayed that the Japanese version of the game was made available on PS5 the same day the Switch versions were released.

In essence, AdHoc only ported the Japanese PlayStation 5 version, and not the global version that is also available on PC and PS5.

The news will only make Switch players more annoyed

This will only increase the anger that the Switch players have had since the game’s release on the console.

And now that annoyance will only be exemplified by the fact that all the signs are pointing to AdHoc not making as much of an effort with the Switch versions, in comparison to the PC and PS5 versions.

Whether that is down to finances, resources, or a simple oversight, it is a damaging blow to the reputation of the developers behind one of the best games of 2025.