Nintendo has been taking multiple steps to fix up the eShop ( something that we discussed here) and one of the biggest complaints about the Switch eShop is the amount of low-effort spam or shovelware games that crowd the store. Even with numerous sorting options that are available, you will end up running into some of these horrible titles. The good news is that according to a new report, Nintendo has been taking new steps to fix this with the form of new guidelines for developers.
IGN spoke to numerous eShop developers, who all have indicated that there are new, stricter guidelines in place for publishing digital games in Japan and other Asian regions. The purpose of these guidelines is to make browsing the eShop a more pleasant experience, and ensure that games are portrayed accurately and sold fairly.
A summary of some of the new requirements is as follows:
- Only five game bundles can be distributed during the first year of a game’s release (with that number increasing by one each following year, up to a max of eight bundles). This is to prevent publishers offering many bundles solely to push their games to the top of the eShop listings.
- There are increased warnings to publishers about “sensitive content”, including “sexualization of children, overly sexual content, discrimination and hate, exploitation of social issues, instructing criminal activity, and political statements”. Nintendo says they may choose not to distribute a game if it pushes any of these too far.
- Game descriptions deemed inaccurate are now strictly prohibited, including “description of the content of a product as under development if it is not expected to be implemented in the product”.
- Changing the game’s name is not allowed without very good reason, and changing the description is not allowed after release.
Nintendo concludes the new guidelines saying that “In the event of any violation of these guidelines, Nintendo may refuse to sell the product, request revisions, limit the scope of disclosure by not displaying it on various pages including Nintendo eShop home page or suspend distribution on Nintendo platforms regardless of the reason”.
These new guidelines have been in place on the eShop in Asia since the Switch 2 launched on June 5th, 2025, and its effects have been seen so far. Hopefully this continues the removal of “slop games” from the eShop and ensures a better experience for all. We will have to see how positive an effect these changes have going forward, and if they do, if they are expanded to regions outside of Asia.
