Nintendo has issued takedown notices against Valve and Facepunch Studios' sandbox game Garry's Mod, requesting that the game removes all of the user-generated content pertaining to Nintendo's IP from the Steam Workshop.
When this story first began circulating, there was some confusion regarding whether the takedowns were issued by Nintendo or not; some claimed that the takedowns were actually the work of malicious actors posing as Nintendo.
However, a post on the Garry's Mod Steam page confirms that it's Nintendo which is issuing the takedown notices, stating that "this is not a mistake [and] the takedowns came from Nintendo".
Garry's Mod's statement on Steam goes on to say that Nintendo issuing takedowns is "fair enough", since the content in question belongs to the Japanese gaming giant and "what they allow and don't allow is up to them".
Facepunch says that removing user-generated content spanning the 20 years for which the game has been in existence is "an ongoing process", calling on users to help by deleting their own Nintendo-related uploads and "never uploading them again".
Unfortunately, this likely means that any Garry's Mod content on the Steam Workshop that contains overt elements of Nintendo IP isn't long for this world.
This is far from the first time Nintendo has pursued litigation against fan projects or user-generated content that it perceives to be threatening to its IP.
Earlier this year, the gaming giant sued Switch emulator Yuzu, the makers of which eventually gave into Nintendo's demands, settling with the company out of court.
Nintendo has also issued takedown notices to projects like the fan-made PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and popular YouTube music channel GilvaSunner, among many others.
Of course, Nintendo isn't the only company to pursue legal action against fan projects and initiatives, but the company certainly seems to be gaining a reputation for being particularly aggressive in this regard.
Stay tuned for more info on this as and when we get it.
