Nintendo Are Really Not Happy With A Fan Game That Lets You Shoot Pokémon
An indie developer who goes by the name Dragon_GameDev2 was working on a project in his spare time. However, unlike many of the cute titles associated with small production teams, this game focused on shooting Pokémon in the face with a variety of weapons.
From taking out Nintendo's pocket mascot Pikachu with a handgun, to the multiple machine gun magazines needed to take on Mewtwo, in promotional videos released by Dragon we saw a number of monsters succumb to deadly bullets. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo appears to have taken exception to this.
One game that presumably hasn't been shuffled off this mortal coil by Nintendo is DokeV. Yes, it looks a like like Pokémon and, yes, it does look really quite good.
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Nintendo is not known for its understanding when it comes to others using its characters. Historically it has issued take down notices to everyone using its games including let's players and live-streamers. In 2015, Nintendo tried to claim up to 40% of the revenue earned by these content creators through the ill-fated Nintendo Creators Program.
This situation is different, as Dragon is not showing official Nintendo content. Instead they have quite realistically recreated many of Nintendo's characters from the creature collecting series, and then depicted them getting blown away. This is imagery Nintendo would likely not want the young fanbase of the franchise seeing.
Nintendo is generally relaxed on mods of its older Pokémon games with fan made randomisers, speed and difficulty mods being available online for older titles. However, most of these mods stick closely to the original games and more importantly, the cute and cosy atmosphere they create. This new FPS take on the franchise is the opposite of that.
As a project Dragon initially only intended to work on for around a month, it seems unlikely that they intended to monetise or expand the project. Nintendo still sought to remove all YouTube and Twitter posts showing images of the game, probably in hopes of preserving the Pokémon's dignity and image.
While Dragon could fight the copyright claims enacted by Nintendo, as they have clearly copied character designs without permission, it seems unlikely Pokémon FPS will make a comeback.