The Dispatch censorship on Nintendo Switch has extended beyond a bizarre change to the game's artwork in the eShop; it has now completely removed the player's ability to toggle certain options, with profanity filters and censored nudity being on by default, with no way of turning the latter off.
If you're looking from the outside in, let me break it down: AdHoc Studios' Dispatch features a slew of options for players to tailor their experience. You can turn QTEs off, licensed music (in case you were planning on streaming your playthrough), and profanity/nudity filters that censor the game. The latter setting has been removed from the Switch version, with nudity completely censored by default, meaning players don't have the option to experience Dispatch the way it was meant to.
Normally, censorship in these kinds of situations is to be expected when it comes to porting a game to a Nintendo console, or so you'd think. The reality is that this decision feels bizarre and hypocritical. It's taking advantage of the fact that AdHoc Studios already had in-game methods of censoring the adult-oriented content shown in the game.
You can use that as an argument to downplay the situation. It adds "charm" to certain situations, almost like we're dealing with Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World iconic censorship scene. That said, even if it was a neat addition made by AdHoc itself for those who were perhaps intending to play Dispatch with their kids, or someone sensitive to vulgarity and a bit of explicit visuals, it was exactly that: an option, not the obligatory way of experiencing the game.
Usually, gamers tend to take censorship cries a bit too far and make a fuss out of a nothingburger. This time, it's different; Dispatch is straight-up being censored for no apparent coherent reason.
I'm not uncovering a deep, dark secret by stating the obvious: the Nintendo eShop is polluted by absolutely low-effort NSFW garbage that's barely worth anyone's time. For a mere $2, you too can be the proud owner of Hentai Games Collection Vol 2, or Hentai Girls, perhaps Hentai World is more to your liking? If none of that tickles your fancy, then get ready to fork out $9 for the incredible Hentai Puzzle Collection 14 in 1, the best value for money!
Beyond that, however, other AAA titles haven't had to deal with any kind of censorship. Cyberpunk 2077 didn't have to deal with that, and that's an M-rated title in which you can choose the girth of your penis and use a dildo as a melee weapon.
So what gives? What's the criterion being used here that deems a small areola in Dispatch needs to be censored, but not whole genitalia in Cyberpunk?
AdHoc Studios mentioned in a statement to Eurogamer that "Different platforms have different content criteria, and submissions are evaluated individually," so is this a case of someone at Nintendo of America simply waking up on the wrong side of the bed and deciding Dispatch simply doesn't get a pass?
It can't be an ESRB situation either, as the game is M-rated on other platforms. It's not like AdHoc Studios had to adhere to strict content restrictions to keep a T-rating.
Knowing Nintendo, we'll likely never know why they decided to remove player agency in the way they have. That being said, we at Gfinity absolutely loved Dispatch, so we still highly encourage you to give it a shot. Just, if you don't value gaming on the go that much, maybe try getting it on PlayStation or PC instead.
And that's it. Stick with us for more at Gfinityesports.com: your go-to source for all things Dispatch.