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Dispatch, a superhero adventure game described as a “superhero workplace comedy,” was a surprise hit when it launched last October for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles. The debut title from AdHoc Studios earned praise for its story and characters, voiced by Aaron Paul and Jeffrey Wright, and was named one of CNET’s Favorite Games of 2025. Dispatch launched for the Switch and Switch 2 on Wednesday, where players quickly noticed that the game had been altered to make its censorship mode permanent.
Those playing Dispatch on the Switch discovered not long into the game that certain cutscenes that were a bit risque now had a black box covering up any nude body parts. It appears that the censorship mode found in the game settings is enabled by default on this version of the game and cannot be disabled.
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The discourse on social media since Wednesday has speculated on who is to blame for this action. Some are blaming Nintendo, which has had a history of requiring games to be altered for its audience. However, in a statement to IGN on Friday, the company says it doesn’t alter games.
“Nintendo requires all games on its platforms to receive ratings from independent organizations and to meet our established content and platform guidelines,” a Nintendo spokesperson told IGN. “While we inform partners when their titles don’t meet our guidelines, Nintendo does not make changes to partner content. We also do not discuss specific content or the criteria used in making these determinations.”
AdHoc Studios didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about Nintendo’s statement and why the censorship mode was permanently enabled. Prior to the game’s release, the developer did tell Eurogamer that it worked with Nintendo and that any changes made would make the game the same as other versions.
“Different platforms have different content criteria, and submissions are evaluated individually,” AdHoc told Eurogamer on Wednesday. “We worked with Nintendo to ensure the content within the title met the criteria to release on their platforms, but the core narrative and gameplay experience remain identical to the original release.”
It’s unclear if AdHoc will make a change to the game via a future update to allow the disabling of the censored mode due to the backlash. One poster on X submitted a refund request for Dispatch due to the censorship and was denied by Nintendo.
