Online game platform/marketplace Game Jolt has reportedly received a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyrights Act) takedown request from Nintendo of America targeting 562 games which allegedly infringe on Nintendo-owned properties.
That’s a significant number of games to target with one DMCA request, and it’s interesting to see Nintendo now targeting Game Jolt since devs have been uploading and sharing their personal projects (and even running their own game jams) on the platform for some time.
However, it’s only recently that Game Jolt expanded to function as a marketplace where indie devs can sell their games. Couple that with the fact that many of the games on the platform are fan games or jam games (or both) which often draw heavy inspiration (if they don’t just directly rip assets) from popular franchises, and Nintendo’s interest in bringing its DMCA gun to bear on Game Jolt seems more understandable.
In a blog post published today, Game Jolt founder (and occasional Gamasutra blogger) David DeCarmine says games on the platform which are targeted in a DMCA takedown request will be “locked” and unavailable to find or download through the platform, though they will remain online and accessible to their developers. Also, from here on out, DeCarmine promises that Game Jolt will publish all DMCA takedown notices it receives to GitHub — starting with the one from Nintendo.