The discussion surrounding the way Nintendo treats its fans and community seems to be coming to a head in recent weeks. Backlash against the company’s treatment of community members really kicked off in late November when Nintendo issued cease and desist orders to the annual Super Smash Bros. tournament, The Big House.
Now, the company has once again landed itself in hot water with many members of community. Nintendo has issued more cease and desist orders, this time to a content creator and artist who was selling custom JoyCon shell designs to both honor a deceased YouTuber and to raise money for a suicide prevention charity.
For those who be unaware, tragedy struck a large internet community surrounding Nintendo games last June. On June 25, 2019, YouTube content creator Etika was found dead by New York City police following a long battle with mental health issues. After Etika’s passing, members of his community, the JoyCon Boyz, showed an immense outpouring of love for the creator. Since his passing, members of the community continue to keep the JoyCon Boyz name alive in Etika’s memory, even creating merchandise and designs based off of the phrase.
One bit of merchandise using the name JoyCon Boyz has been met with cease and desist orders straight from Nintendo. The products in question were custom Nintendo Switch JoyCon controller shells that were styled after Etika’s channel design, with the JoyCon Boyz logo included on the shells. However, these JoyCon shells were not intended to earn a profit for the product’s creator, CptnAlex. These custom JoyCon shells were being sold to raise money for the JED Foundation, which is a non-profit organization meant to help prevent suicide and protect mental health in young adults.
According to CptnAlex in his official statement, Nintendo’s legal team took issue with the inclusion of the word JoyCon attached to the designs. CptnAlex says, “While they didn’t specifically tell me why each design was taken down, they did include a list of copyrights my designs broke, and the word Joycon was on that list.” It’s a difficult situation to be sure, especially considering the proceeds of the shells were going to a suicide prevention charity, and were meant to honor a deceased YouTuber who was a massive fan of Nintendo’s products.
This is just another instance of community backlash that Nintendo has been faced with in the past few weeks. Members of the Super Smash Bros. community have expressed their long-time frustration with the company for allegedly taking steps to actively hinder and shun the competitive scene for all of its Super Smash Bros. titles. Additionally, Nintendo recently canceled Splatoon 2’s NA finals live stream after teams changed their names to show support for the Smash Bros. Melee community after Nintendo shut down The Big House event. Regardless of the who is legally right, this situation will undoubtedly damage Nintendo’s public image in fan’s eyes even further.
