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Two fan-created games based on Nintendo properties were removed from the running for an award created to honor "fan-created content, such as mods, fan films, and other player content."

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

November 21, 2016

1 Min Read

Two nominees, both fan-created games based on Nintendo IP, have been quietly removed from The Game Awards’ website over the weekend. Pokemon Uranium and Project AM2R were both pulled from the Best Fan Creation category after being nominated for the award just last week.

Though no official statement has been made by the involved parties, it's possible that this could be a complication born out of Nintendo's usual strong disapproval for unauthorized use of its intellectual property.

The company has become somewhat notorious for issuing DMCAs to both fan-projects and YouTube videos that use Nintendo assets without permission. These two games vanishing from the list of nominees could be an extension of that, considering Nintendo occupies a seat on The Game Awards advisory board.

Both of the fan-created games stopped official distribution earlier this year after Nintendo voiced its disapproval at the unauthorized use of its intellectual property. Project AM2R was issued a DMCA shortly after the unofficial Metroid 2 remake launched in August.

The developers of Pokemon Uranium never received direct notice from Nintendo, but still opted to stop distribution after the company issued takedown notices to several websites hosting the game. At that time, the game had been downloaded over 1.5 million times. 

The two remaining nominees in the running for the Best Fan Creation award, Brutal Doom 64 and Enderal: The Shadows of Order, seem to have support from the developers of the games their mods were based on. iD Software, the studio behind Doom, tweeted out congratulations for Brutal Doom 64's nomination this past weekend. 

About the Author(s)

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

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