Nintendo Switch Game Removed From Sale Over Controversial Content

Nintendo Switch users can no longer player a fairly controversial game.

By Tyler Fischer

Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch OLED users can no longer play a controversial Switch game as it's been removed from the Nintendo eShop. It's not often games are removed from the Nintendo Switch. And this applies to all consoles. Whether it's the PS5, the Xbox Series X|S, or the Nintendo Switch, once a game is released on any of these platforms it rarely is ever removed for content issues, and that's because each platform screens every game added, or at least they are supposed to. More recently, many of the platform holders have become more lenient. Nintendo has historically been very strict on what it allows on its platforms, but those days are over, hence why Need for Spirit Drink & Drive Simulator was recently released on the Nintendo Switch with a rating making it acceptable for all ages.

On October 15 the game was added to the Nintendo eShop, and as the name applies you're drunk driving while transporting booze. Criminality isn't a problem on Nintendo Switch, but the game released with a kids rating, which of course is not acceptable. Hence why it's been removed, and according to PEGI, Europe's rating board, it must be resubmitted with a PEGI 16 rating. 

"When an investigation shows that the PEGI rating changes by more than one age category, the game is taken down and Nintendo requires that the game is resubmitted with an accurate rating (to ensure their parental control tools work properly),"said PEGI of the issue to Eurogamer.

Right now, there's been no word from Atomic Fabrik or Cristian Manolachi, the makers of the game, about the Nintendo Switch removal, and thus it's unclear if the game will be resubmitted and added back to the Nintendo eShop. It's possible it's already been resubmitted but this has not been communicated. Meanwhile, the game's Nintendo eShop listing still, at the moment of writing this, leads to a 404 error page.

For what it's worth, it doesn't seem Nintendo Switch users are missing out on much. Not only will a game centered around drunk driving leave a bad taste in the mouth of some, but it's apparently not very good. Over on Steam, where the game has been available since 2018, it has 108 user reviews, and only 59 percent of these reviews are positive, giving the game a "Mixed" rating. 

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"Need for Spirit: Drink & Drive Simulator is a tongue-in-cheek racer, unique through its approach to the racing topic," reads an official blurb about the game. "You step into the shoes of a hapless professional driver tasked with transporting various alcoholic beverages such as beer, spirits, wine and brandy to certain venues like birthdays and other miscellaneous celebrations. If you thought this mission will be easy, think again. The infrastructure will be challenging to say the least. Country roads, mountains and highways that resemble dirt roads will all prove to be worthy adversaries on your path towards a successful delivery."

For more Nintendo Switch coverage, as well as more coverage on everything else under the Nintendo umbrella, be sure to check out all our past and all of our extensive coverage on all things Nintendo by clicking right here. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think.

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