340
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by tonytins@pawb.social to c/games@lemmy.world

Dispatch's release on Nintendo platforms today was poised to be another testament to AdHoc's tremendous success with the point-and-click superhero workplace comedy, but news of a platform-specific difference has overshadowed much of the excitement for fans hoping to play the episodic series on-the-go. Instead of celebrating the release, fans are launching campaigns against Dispatch's censorship, returning their purchases, or refraining from playing it altogether.

Normally, Dispatch contains nudity and sexually explicit scenes involving its gang of ex-villains. AdHoc allows players to toggle sexual content like this off on most platforms. Curiously, however, the newly-released Switch version automatically depicts censored versions of these scenes. There's no option to turn the setting off.

AdHoc confirmed the censorship to Eurogamer, but noted that the overall experience would still be the same for Switch players.


Mind you, Nintendo is cool with putting Doom and Duke Nukem on the Switch.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 175 points 1 week ago

Havent you heard? Violence appropriate, sex and nudity not. Its totally okay to see people being dismembered, but you better never show a nipple.

[-] mangaskahn@lemmy.world 85 points 1 week ago

Female nipple. Male nipples are a-ok. 🙄

[-] jasoman@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago

Twitch also has that rule for streamers.

[-] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 30 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

To be fair, there would be a loooot of nipples on Twitch otherwise. It’d be nipple sea.

Still stupid, though.

[-] toynbee@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Back when bash.org was around: Person 1: Person 2 has so little game he could fall into a barrel of nipples and come out sucking his thumb. Person 2: The concept of a barrel of nipples confuses and frightens me.

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 4 points 1 week ago

I've heard "if it were raining titties, I'd open my mouth and catch a dick."

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 week ago

Reminds me of the days before Bailey Jay transitioned and got in trouble for showing her breasts while waiting in line at Comicon and then protested "but I'm a boy."

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

It was a meme when I transitioned to post top less pics until they got censored. This was back when free the nipple was a bigger force though

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] GreenCrunch@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 week ago

And encouraged, as featured in Nintendo's own Super Mario Odyssey!

[-] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Odyssey Dem Mario Nips

[-] Manjushri@piefed.social 64 points 1 week ago

Yep. In the words of George R. R. Martin

“You can write the most detailed, vivid description of an ax entering a skull, and nobody will say a word in protest. But if you write a similarly detailed description of a penis entering a vagina, you get letters from people saying they'll never read you again. What the hell? Penises entering vaginas bring a lot more joy into the world than axes entering skulls.”

[-] Katana314@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

I recently published my novel, and at the last minute I had this panic about what was appropriate. There's one bigoted character who calls gay people "f***ot" multiple times, as well as many characters that drop F-bombs on numerous occasions. There's a (semi-magical) event similar to a mass shooting, many references to torture, and someone's hand is chopped off. To be really safe, I put a content warning on the first page just to make some of that clear. Surely, that puts it a level beyond the Young Adult region, right? But...possibly not, given what I tend to hear offhand of some series.

[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago

Stephen King's best (solo) book, IT, has probably over 200 N-bombs in it. It's still his best book. Very much a product of its time (and an author who was so coked up he doesn't remember writing a lot of it), but still his best book.

Your novel is Young Adult, or no? It's not clear. I don't know what the rules are for YA in America/Europe, but I'm reading the Sword Art Online series (rather, having anime lead Bryce Papenbrook read it to me, via the audiobooks) and SAO (which is LN which means Light Novel, which is Japan's version of YA) has dismemberment. Arms being chopped off, people being chopped in half... the anime is known for its scenes of SA, but the first two weren't SA in the books (the anime exaggerated what happened). The one in season 3 absolutely is an SA though. I haven't gotten to the one in season 4 yet but I've heard it's not. There's also torture, but it's not too serious. They're playing video games, VR based. At one point the pain is amplified and a character is viciously attacked, so he feels it 10x more. In another case, people are trapped in a world that moves 1,000x slower than real life (so like a year in the game is like an hour in real life or something like that). The kind of stuff Black Mirror did (White Christmas, Black Museum, USS Callister). But not a lot of profanity. (Of course, I'm also reading it translated to English. I have no idea what Reki Kawahara actually wrote, because I would not be able to read the original Japanese text.)

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Nioxic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 week ago

Nudity is fine

Weve got boobs and dicks even in children cartoons here

[-] Sanctus@anarchist.nexus 9 points 1 week ago

Those cartoons on Hentai Haven and Pornhub aren't for kids.

[-] goferking0@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 1 week ago

Not really. Have violence without blood and they'll rate it teen. Anything close to nudity instant mature rating. Same with searing. Can gun down hundreds if no blood but if they use naughty language while doing it mature /:

Yeah, also if we argue that violent videogames don't cause violence - what's the problem with sexual content? If they're censoring sexual stuff because they believe videogames if corrupt and change behaviour, the violent ones should definitely be banned.

Also - I'm using Google's Android keyboard and just realised the dictionary didn't know the word 'sexual'. Just in case someone might try to write something spicy. FFS. It knew 'violent' though.

[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 62 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The fact that they allow Resident Evil Village of all games on the Switch but don't allow this animated nudity scene is insane to me. RE Village was one of the most graphic games I have ever seen.

edit: I Just realized Cyberpunk 2077 was released on it no censorship. How did dispatch get censored but that was allowed through lmao

[-] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 31 points 1 week ago

It looks like CERO might be responsible.

CERO is very strict about genitals and dismemberment. CD Projekt Red got around that by having two different versions of Cyberpunk 2077; the version sold on the Japanese eShop is censored so as to comply with CERO, while the European one isn't.

AdHoc doesn't have the same resources as CD Projekt Red, so they might have just made the one version which they sell everywhere.

It's still surprising that Sony is apparently being more lenient than Nintendo for once.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

It's still surprising that Sony is apparently being more lenient than Nintendo for once.

To be fair, the only real memory I have of the OG God of War games is that the first or second game opens up with Kratos motorboating two girls' titties. And that was in a time when nudity in mainstream games was still nearly unheard of.

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Unless you wanted some....hot coffee.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That whole controversy was blown out of proportion. Not only because it could only be accessed by hacking the game apart, but also because it didn't actually have any explicit content. It was still fully clothed models just animated to hump each other.

As a horny teen, that shit was the most disappointed in a rumored game secret I had been since being told if you beat Metroid fast enough you can see Samus nude.

[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

In a bikini. Not nude. Though I suppose you could make the argument it's bra and panties? There aren't enough pixels to say if it's a 2-piece bathing suit or underwear.

My take on that was that Samus didn't wear clothes under her suit. So if you're a woman and you get into power armour, you're probably gonna wear at least a T-shirt and some loose fitting shorts, right? One would think. But I guess for reasons (like the fact that the suit can handle extreme temperatures both ways), it probably needs direct contact with a lot of skin to adapt, or something. So she strips down to bra and panties to get into the suit. Totally makes sense. It's not meant to be sexy, it's a utility, the suit is a tool for her as an intergalactic bounty hunter.

[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

You must not have grown up back then. The game does show her in bra and panties if you're fast enough. The rumor was that she was full on naked tho if you were even faster than the bikini easter egg. But that was some bullshit, and you couldn't just look at a wiki to know this, you had to find out for yourself.

There were other similar rumors back in the day for all sorts of games. "Nudalities" in Mortal Kombat. The ability to actuslly obtain the Triforce in Ocarina of Time. Getting to play as Luigi if you collected 121 stars in Mario 64 (later was actually made real in the DS release, but you unlocked Yoshi not Luigi). Etc.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 4 points 1 week ago

Yeah, Sony was very laissez faire back then. It's why the PS1 was so successful; Nintendo were notoriously strict, so Sony's policy of "Do whatever as long as it's legal" attracted both devs and players. It's not the only reason the first two PlayStations were massive hits, but it's a factor.

Nintendo initially stuck to their guns but, after seeing Sony eat their lunch, afternoon snack, supper, breakfast, second breakfast, and elevenses, decided to cool it with the censorship at the ends of the 32 and 64-bit era. Beginning with Conker's Bad Fur Day they pretty much stopped enforcing rules on other devs and even published a few 18-rated games like Eternal Darkness.

Then for some reason Sony started censoring hentai games in the PS4 era while Nintendo let them go uncensored, and gamers everywhere were bemused at how edgy Sony and wholesome Nintendo had apparently swapped positions.

Perhaps the pendulum has swung back.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] missingno@fedia.io 12 points 1 week ago

Unconfirmed, but the rumor I'm hearing is that AdHoc submitted one universal binary for all regions, and it's CERO who won't allow this content in Japan. FWIW, the JP version of Cyberpunk is also censored, but it's separate from the international release.

It's also worth noting that the JP PS5 version just launched alongside it, separate from last year's international version. Haven't been able to find confirmation on whether that version is censored too, but if it is then it's definitely CERO.

[-] Pika@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I think this is very likely the reason yea.

I'm also now finding out that they had to censor the coverart of the switch 2 edition a few weeks ago as well which I was unaware of. If it turns out they knew for awhile that it would be censored, and just chose not to tell anyone that is going to permanently damper my opinion of their studio. Like it's one thing to be like "This was forced upon us last minute so we threw a solution together" it's a whole different situation of knowing that it was going to happen, then refusing to tell the consumers about it since you knew it would lower sales.

Along with that, we asked for comment from AdHoc concerning the decision to censor Dispatch’s Deluxe Edition artwork on the Nintendo eShop as compared to the PC/PS5 release, and if that indicated any censorship in the game itself. We were told that “unfortunately, the studio cannot comment on the topic at this time.” Along with that, it was said that if AdHoc is able to discuss the matter down the road, their comment would be shared with us.

It sounds to me like they knew this change was going to be required at that point, but didn't want to publicly announce that, which puts a pretty bad taste in my mouth about the intent of the studio.

[-] missingno@fedia.io 5 points 1 week ago

Yeah, regardless of where it came from, the lack of disclosure reflects very poorly on AdHoc.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Neither was particularly sexually explicit IIRC.

I dunno, though. Maybe censorship was an “easier” ask since the setting was already there.

[-] VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Cyberpunk also has a nudity setting in all versions.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 37 points 1 week ago

Entirely unwise to buy anything non-Nintendo on the Nintendo Store as if the Switch’s entire purpose wasn’t to just get people to buy a $500 appliance to play a Nintendo game.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

And brick your shit (without refunds) for the slightest hint you're against Nintendo. Fuck Nintendo.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] Lembot_0006@programming.dev 33 points 1 week ago

At this point, after all nintendoing Nintendo did, people still give them money. And who is the crazy in this situation?

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

after all nintendoing Nintendo did,

Missed opportunity to use 'Nintendone'

[-] Lembot_0006@programming.dev 4 points 1 week ago

Oh, I'm sure Nintendo will grant me plenty of possibilities to improve this joke until the excellence :)

[-] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 4 points 1 week ago

That was the nintendid resut.

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 11 points 1 week ago

And they're punishing dispatch devs for their shit choice. They're not returning the consoles or refusing to buy Nintendo, they're returning the game that Nintendo censored.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 26 points 1 week ago

I just heard about this earlier today. My biggest issue is that this wasn't something they made people aware of prior? It absolutely should have been disclosed prior to release. I hear good things about the game, i just know not to buy it on switch.

[-] mohab@piefed.social 22 points 1 week ago

Mind you, Nintendo is cool with putting Doom and Duke Nukem on the Switch.

And literally owns Bayonetta 😂

[-] Infrapink@thebrainbin.org 5 points 1 week ago

Sega own Bayonetta, Nintendo just license it and pay PlatinumGames to make it.

[-] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 20 points 1 week ago

The amount of waifu and furry porn games in the Switch store is higher than you’d think. Why censor Dispatch?

[-] kandoh@reddthat.com 12 points 1 week ago

Taller trees catch more wind

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] IEatDaFeesh@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

This is good. People are learning through experience to not buy any non-exclusive game through Nintendo.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Kolanaki@pawb.social 11 points 1 week ago

Oh so there is sexual content in this? Well now I gotta get it. Uh... Just not on the Switch.

[-] unknown1234_5@kbin.earth 11 points 1 week ago

just nudity, a female character masturbating in a dream, and references to sex/fetishes/etc.

[-] Zahille7@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

I watched Charlie play through the first episode, and within the first 5 or so minutes of the game there's full-frontal with dick and balls. He had to censor his game of course, but you know it's there.

[-] lofuw@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm so fucking sick of censorship and the morons that perpetuate it.

If you don't want to see something? Fine. That doesn't mean you should get to hide it from everyone else, though.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
340 points (98.9% liked)

Games

46016 readers
1725 users here now

Welcome to the largest gaming community on Lemmy! Discussion for all kinds of games. Video games, tabletop games, card games etc.

Rules

1. Submissions have to be related to games

Video games, tabletop, or otherwise. Posts not related to games will be deleted.

This community is focused on games, of all kinds. Any news item or discussion should be related to gaming in some way.

2. No bigotry or harassment, be civil

No bigotry, hardline stance. Try not to get too heated when entering into a discussion or debate.

We are here to talk and discuss about one of our passions, not fight or be exposed to hate. Posts or responses that are hateful will be deleted to keep the atmosphere good. If repeatedly violated, not only will the comment be deleted but a ban will be handed out as well. We judge each case individually.

3. No excessive self-promotion

Try to keep it to 10% self-promotion / 90% other stuff in your post history.

This is to prevent people from posting for the sole purpose of promoting their own website or social media account.

4. Stay on-topic; no memes, funny videos, giveaways, reposts, or low-effort posts

This community is mostly for discussion and news. Remember to search for the thing you're submitting before posting to see if it's already been posted.

We want to keep the quality of posts high. Therefore, memes, funny videos, low-effort posts and reposts are not allowed. We prohibit giveaways because we cannot be sure that the person holding the giveaway will actually do what they promise.

5. Mark Spoilers and NSFW

Make sure to mark your stuff or it may be removed.

No one wants to be spoiled. Therefore, always mark spoilers. Similarly mark NSFW, in case anyone is browsing in a public space or at work.

6. No linking to piracy

Don't share it here, there are other places to find it. Discussion of piracy is fine.

We don't want us moderators or the admins of lemmy.world to get in trouble for linking to piracy. Therefore, any link to piracy will be removed. Discussion of it is of course allowed.

Authorized Regular Threads

Related communities

PM a mod to add your own

Video games

Generic

Help and suggestions

By platform

By type

By games

Language specific

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS