Nintendo Removes Videos of Pokemon Shooting Fan Game

Theres a little bit of everything imaginable on the internet. That includes footage of a fan-made game project, where users shoot and kill Pokémon with modern firearms. And to the surprise of almost no one, Nintendo is issuing copyright claims to bring down any footage of it.

Sounds wild, doesnt it? The story starts with Reddit user /u/Dragon_GameDev. They recently posted on the popular website, showcasing some footage of a game they were working on. They described the game as just something to practice their game development skills with the Unreal engine. In it, players are dropped into a scenic open world with a gun. As they roam around, they can encounter various Pokémon, which they can kill with said guns.

Why Pokémon, you might be asking. Since it was essentially practice, Dragon_GameDev essentially just used various dev assets they had, including free online models and animations. They admitted that this also included official Pokémon models and animations pulled from the data files of Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Sure enough, Nintendos legal team found out and began to get involved. We dont know if they issued a DMCA to the developer themselves. What we do know, however, is that nearly all of the footage of the fan game available online is being taken down via Copyright claims by Nintendo.

Theres one important thing to note from this. Nintendo is using copyright claims to remove the videos. Usually, when the company takes to its infamously litigious nature, its either in the form of DMCAs, or by claiming copyright and keeping the videos up. By removing them instead of holding the claim, this shows that Nintendo actively doesnt want people stumbling across this game.

And to be honest, it makes sense. Pokémon Legends: Arceus is a 3D, open world adventure game with a similar look and an upcoming release date. We can absolutely imagine people searching for new open world pokemon game and accidentally coming across videos of somebody shooting Pikachu with a handgun.

Theres a common argument about how controlling a company can be regarding fan-created works involving their IP. Theres an even bigger argument lately about how abusable YouTubes copyright claiming system is. But its hard to side with the fan game this time. We arent saying that Nintendo does no wrong. But in this specific case, we get it.