Nintendo has not had the best history when it comes to fangames, as they have ordered the takedown of numerous games such as AM2R and various Pokémon games,. At the same time, companies like Sega embraced the idea, with Sega even enabled users on steam to directly upload mods of their classic games to the genesis classic collection. Obviously Nintendo wont allow fangames that are played on PC but what if there was a middle ground.
What if Nintendo sent up their own program for creators to submit fangames and have them placed on Switch. This would have to be a set of carefully curated content and Nintendo would have to sort through and process the games for approval. Obviously there would need to be a lot of work that would have to go into this, since for one thing, the games would have to be screened for offensive content that would go against Nintendo’s policies or common decency. There would also be the issues of making sure the games do not violate other companies’ copyrights and trademarks
That being said, this could work in benefit to both sides. Nintendo could get themselves some good publicity, and at the same time, this would also allow makers of some of these games to not only have their games be available without fear of takedown, but also to have them promoted by Nintendo. The games would reach a larger audience and there would be more content available, and we could see a lot more experimentation done..
Perhaps Nintendo could even find some new young talent this way, similar to how Sega recruited the team for Sonic Mania. If Nintendo is careful, the most that can go wrong with proper curation is that a few bad games slip through the cracks, and let’s be fair, that happens already on the eShop. If they are careful, this could be a big win for the company.
This being said, what do you all think? Should Nintendo do this? Let us know your thoughts on the matter.
Disclaimer: The above was the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of ROG or its staff,