Nintendo has seemingly taken steps to combat so-called ‘eSlop’ on the Switch 2 – at least in Japan and some regions in Asia.
In a report from IGN, Nintendo has implemented new guidelines for publishing on the Switch 2 eShop, most (if not all) of which appear to be targeting the relentless proliferation of low-quality ‘eSlop’ games. How successful this proves to be remains to be seen in these early days, but it at least sounds like Nintendo is trying to make the eShop a much better experience on Switch 2 than its predecessor.
So what at the guidelines? Well, the first is all about bundles. The new rule states that the maximum number of titles eligible for bundles is five within the first year of a game’s release. This number then increases by one for each year the game is available, up to a maximum of eight. This is seemingly targeting a tactic used by some publishers in which constant bundles would be advertised to keep their games near the top of the eShop listings.
The second guideline looks at sensitive content. Nintendo specifically states what would constitute sensitive content, and this includes “sexualization of children, overly sexual content, discrimination and hate, exploitation of social issues, instructing criminal activity, and political statements”. The third guideline targets games with inaccurate descriptions, stating “It is prohibited to provide inaccurate descriptions of the contents of a product. It is prohibited to provide description of the content of a product as under development if it is not expected to be implemented in the product”.
And finally, Nintendo is prohibiting any drastic changes to a game without due cause, including any title changes and anything that might severely differentiate the title from its presence on other platforms.
Ultimately, titles found to be violating these guidelines may lead to revisions being requested from Nintendo, or in some cases, a complete refusal to sell the game on the eShop. As we mentioned at the top, it’s still early days yet, so it remains to be seen just how successful these guidelines may prove in keeping the ‘eSlop’ out, but hopefully we’ll see a lot more curation on the eShop in the coming months and years.
We’ll be sure to let you know if and when these guidelines are implemented in the West.
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