After suddenly developing a conscience, the creators behind Pokémon Uranium have removed their own download links for the fan-made project.
While clarifying that Nintendo nor The Pokémon Company has issued a cease and desist, the decision was made “out of respect for their copyright.”
Since release, the project has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times and Nintendo of America’s lawyers have started handing out takedown notices to websites that have helped to distribute it.
However, the creators have shared that they will still release updates through the Patcher that was included with the Download, reassuring players that they can still produce and share content without fearing any legal action.
“We are making what we feel is the safest choice that is in the best interests of us, Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and our fans,” the Pokémon Uranium creators wrote. “Please respect our decision and don’t lash out at them – they have done nothing to us.”
Their wider message reads:
After receiving more than 1,500,000 downloads of our game, we have been notified of multiple takedown notices from lawyers representing Nintendo of America.
While we have not personally been contacted, it’s clear what their wishes are, and we respect those wishes deeply.
Therefore, we will no longer provide official download links for the game through our website.
We have no connection to fans who reupload the game files to their own hosts, and we cannot verify that those download links are all legitimate. We advise you to be extremely cautious about downloading the game from unofficial sources.
We are blown away by the response this game has received, and we thank you all so much for your outstanding support.
We will continue to provide Pokémon Uranium-related news and updates through our official channels.
You are welcome to continue discussing and sharing content related to the game on our forums and Discord, where there is a very active community.
Thank you for reading, and let’s share the love of Pokémon!
There has to be some sort of back-door deal between the creators and Nintendo, whether to be that they had been bribed to shut the game down or because Nintendo just doesn’t like their fans showing their appreciation for the game. Either way, Pokemon Uranium is an amazing game and I hope that the creators push forward to make the game available to everyone. In around a week of it being released it already has been downloaded 1.5 million times, and as someone who has played the game for over 35 hours and is still addicted, I recommend it to anyone that wants to play.
“After suddenly developing a conscience” seriously?
They’ve literally created a project for free for 1.5 million people to enjoy. if they don’t have a conscience, I don’t know who does
I’m not trying to diminish the effort that they have put in over the years. But, they have knowingly used the Pokémon brand (which is a protected trademark) to promote the game. Without that, I am sure that they would not have had the success that they have achieved. Just because it is free, doesn’t absolve them from that legal stance.
“Developed a conscience”?
Not exactly a phrase that applies to this situation, there’s nothing for them to feel morally bad about.