Nintendo Switch Eshop was sucking for a very long time. For the console's entire life cycle, it was a slow and laborious way to buy digital games that I would only touch if I had to do it. I don't like to navigate it, because it feels like a digital peddler at any time seems to try to sell me something unpleasant. Nothing if it feels as polished or refined as it should.
So when Nintendo Switch 2 was released last month, and suddenly it was a breeze to jump in and browse, it felt like a revelation. I could buy digital games without the whole screen becoming a slideshow with dropped frames and time-out errors? What a concept! However, nothing is perfect, and the store is still tormented by countless spam games that only serve to bury real triple-A and indie efforts that are actually worth our time.
Nintendo finally does something for Switch Eshop
It turns out that Nintendo silent has made some major changes to its publishing guidelines for titles that want to be sold at ESHOP in an attempt to reduce the amount of 'eslop' found on the store. Right now it only takes a brief brink through the latest titles to find countless games generated by AI or cruelly mounted puzzle titles with some twist on 'Hentai' in the title. This is a platform that is intended for all ages, so it feels pretty bizarre to have games inspired by a genre of animated pornography bang on the front.
The guidelines were first introduced on June 5, although it seems as developers with existing games at the store will be able to skirt around them by changing game titles and changing product descriptions. I can imagine that this happens with many “hentai” games.
Developers who speak with IGN have expanded exactly what these guidelines mean, and the steps that studios are expected to follow when it comes to releasing titles on the platform. It is obvious that Nintendo is taking steps to reduce the amount of potentially “sexual” content in its digital store and at the same time ensure that games do not specifically show insensitive content without justification.
This includes games that “openly support or criticize real countries, organizations or ideologies”, or something that potentially “harms the Nintendo brand”. This change is so necessary, and will hopefully do something to repair the reputation for the store, which most people want to use, but which are often pushed away from mountains of unnecessary debris.
Next Up is to introduce some form of policy to AI-generated content, or at least it should follow Steam's footsteps and force developers to clarify if it has been used. Then at Eshop there are hundreds of games made for cheap and sold too much cheaper to take advantage of unconscious consumers.
But Nintendo is not the only console that has to make a change
I have written about the obscene amount of shovels found in the Playstation store in recent years, and the situation has only worsened. Take a single scroll through the latest game episode in the store, and you are greeted with a stream of AI-generated debris, an overwhelming amount of sexually explicit assets and maybe a real game if you are lucky. It buried games that you might actually want to consider buying with slop that Sony has given permission to slip through the cracks. We are quickly approaching an all-digital future, and if we want it to be worthwhile, things must be more curated than this.
Finding and enjoying games is a job, while only navigating from a user perspective is now the same to go to a flea market and see a bunch of blatant bootleg items on the screen. Nobody does anything about it, but you know, deep down, this can't be okay. In the past I have also talked to developers and know how difficult it is to be marked in a store like this, and where exactly you are placed is crucial. Unless a player is already aware of you, they will not meet the search function. They must see your name, your art, your price and have a way to discover you naturally. Right now it is not possible on Switch or PS5.
I have not used Xbox enough in the latest memory to claim that it is suffering from similar diseases, but I would not be surprised. We have reached a point where the digital ecosystems on consoles have become the primary way to buy and consume video games, which means that now only the biggest fish flow to the top while the rest is left to fight for purposes. There are so many excellent games on Switch and PS5 that deserve to be discovered, but the condition for their respective store is so awful that it turns out to be impossible. New guidelines and strict submission processes can change it, but we still have a long way to go.
- Stamp
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Nintendo
- Original release date
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June 5, 2025
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$ 449.99
- Operating system
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Ownership
