Nintendo DMCAs third-party Steam image site, users upload even more artwork in response
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Nintendo has once again intervened to protect us all from misuse of the company’s intellectual property. This time, lawyers have been issuing DMCA takedowns toSteamGridDB, a site for the uploading and sharing of custom images for use in your Steam game library.
As reported byGBATemp(viaGamesRadar), Nintendo has demanded SteamGridDB remove images of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, Splatoon 3, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. The site wasn’t hosting any files related to the games themselves, mind you: You couldn’t download a ROM or an emulator, but if you were using Steam to launch an emulated version of those games, you could get some artwork off of SteamGridDB to add to its library entry.
But apparently even that was too much for Nintendo. Since the DMCA notices were served, therelevant entries on SteamGridDB have all been replacedby notices that the assets have been “removed in response to DMCA takedown notice sent by Nintendo of America Inc”.
Predictably, users have begun uploading even more artwork in response.Breath of the Wild’s SteamGridDB pageis awash with art uploaded in the last few days, including images thatpoke fun at Nintendo’s DMCAs. The same is true forthe other DMCA’d games, though their art is less of a visual feast than BOTW’s.
It’s not clear what sparked the takedown, but it might have something to do with theSteam Deck’s potential as a Nintendo Switch emulator. When even Valve itself is having to quietlyedit its own trailersto remove references to Switch emulation, Nintendo’s jealous protection of its intellectual property starts to make a little more sense.
Regardless, it’s hardly new behaviour from Nintendo. The company is infamous for stomping down on anything that even looks like it might brush up against Nintendo properties, including afan remake of Metroid 2, aSuper Mario Bros battle royale, anda No Man’s Sky parody called No Mario’s Sky. The fact that people are out there reverse-engineering games likePerfect DarkandA Link to the Pastin a technically legal way must have Nintendo lawyers grinding their teeth to nubs.
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One of Josh’s first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he’s been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He’ll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin’s Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you’re all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.
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