Nintendo files takedown notice against Pokemon fan game creation tool

Nintendo has filed a takedown notice against Pokemon Essentials, a Pokemon-themed fan game creation tool that has been up and running for more than a decade. 

A major game maker taking or threatening legal action against fan creations that use and distribute copyrighted assets isn’t unheard of by any means, and Nintendo has been particularly vigilant about doing in the case of both Pokemon Uranium and, according to rumors, the recent EmuParadise wipe. 

According to The Verge, both the tool itself and the Pokemon Essentials Wiki have been scrubbed from their official hosting platforms on the internet at Nintendo’s legal behest. One unnamed fan developer speaking to The Verge said that the Wiki and the years of information housed in were "crucial for Essentials," though the program and fragments of that information will likely circulate online still through other channels.

Pokemon Essentials itself offered fan game makers drag-and-drop access to tilesets, maps, music, and sprites in addition to a decade of fan-made assets created and distributed over the past decade for use with the Pokemon-inspired tool.