Dispatch received universal acclaim upon release, so when it was announced that it would be released on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, there was a lot of anticipation. This was muddled by the title, which has a hard M rating through the use of language and sexual themes/nudity released on the platform, with the pre-existing censorship options enabled, with no way to turn them off, as is present on other platforms.
Developer AdHoc addressed this change in a statement, saying, “different platforms have different content criteria. worked with Nintendo to adapt certain elements so Dispatch could be on their platform.” This seemed to lay the reasoning at Nintendo’s feet, and now Nintendo has addressed the matter itself.
A Nintendo Spokesperson spoke to IGN, stating:
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
This means that, indeed, it was on Nintendo’s end that the content was flagged for not meeting certain criteria and that Dispatch had clearly fallen short of meeting that. Nintendo however, maintains that they do not change any games themselves, leaving remedying these issues to the developer. Since the censorship option was already in the title when it was released for PlayStation 5 and PC last year, it stands to reason this was the path of least resistance.
Dispatch itself is an adult-oriented workplace comedy, featuring superheroes, that has a fair bit of adult content that has been censored. The game features both male and female nudity, with some sex scenes, all featuring black bars. Sex noises and the use of the middle finger have also been covered up by censorship.
There is some debate online concerning this content being flagged, as fans have pointed out CD Projekt Red titles The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 also feature nudity and sex, yet neither was censored. These fans, though, have pointed to Cyberpunk 2077 receiving a censored version of the title in Japan to cut nudity and decapitations that was released alongside the uncensored version everywhere else. Speculation has led to a fan suggestion that, instead of creating a new version of Dispatch for the CERO ratings board, the studio made the choice simply to release one censored version.
Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Bluesky to keep up to date on everything we have going on!
