The document notes that if a ‘Content Provider’ is based in Japan, it can not be an “Anti-Social Force” or “Boryokudan” (a Japanese term that means 'violence groups', or organized crime groups). Effectively, the document imposes a black and white ban on partners working with the Yakuza.If the developer or publisher wishes to work with Nintendo, they are also not allowed to ”give monetary benefits to an Anti-Social Force,” “use threat or violence in connection with transactions” or “interfere with the business of Nintendo Entities by spreading false rumours, using fraud or force,” the document reads.
In Japan, clauses like these are actually pretty common across many industries. Known as 'Yakuza exclusion ordinances', it is a method through which the Japanese government discourages citizens and society at large from interacting with the Yakuza and organised crime. By implementing such ordinances, it means the Yakuza is being fought against by not just the police, but society as a whole.
Of course, this doesn’t bar Nintendo from working with game studios that are making games about organized crime groups in Japan, such as Ryu Ga Gotoku’s Yakuza series. However, In the past, Yakuza series producer Daisuke Sato has said that the Nintendo Switch is not the “ideal“ platform to develop Yakuza games on. Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
