Nintendo is introducing image sharing restrictions to Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream in order to create experiences that are “welcoming and enjoyable for everyone”.

As seen on the Nintendo America website, a statement laying out why these restrictions are in place have been included. They read as follows: “Nintendo aims to create experiences where players have the freedom to enjoy their Mii characters in their own way. In Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, this freedom can sometimes lead to humorous, surprising, or unpredictable moments during gameplay.

“While these moments are often fun for players, we recognize that out-of-context scenes may be misunderstood or may not reflect the spirit in which the game is intended to be enjoyed.

“Nintendo is committed to creating experiences that are welcoming and enjoyable for everyone.

“To support this commitment, and in consideration of the unique gameplay in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, we have decided to place restrictions on certain image sharing features. These limits help to make the worlds players create in Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream remain fun and safe, and that the game can be enjoyed comfortably by all players.

“We understand that some players may find these restrictions limiting. However, they reflect Nintendo’s ongoing philosophy of creating experiences that bring smiles to everyone who plays.”

As for the extent of these restrictions, the Japanese Nintendo website lays it out clearly: “The following features are unavailable: image transfer to smartphones, direct posting to social media, and automatic image uploads (Nintendo Switch 2 only).” You can still share images via the Switch 2 Game Chat function.

The reaction to these restrictions are, as you can imagine, negative. Take Dal from ResetEra, who described the decision as “wacky”. Racoon, on the same ResetEra post covering the decision, stated their belief that Nintendo “killed the game”, adding: “social media was going to shoot this into the stratosphere, instead they killed it”. Another, Mullet2000, summed up their thoughts as such: “Nintendo gonna Nintendo”.

It’s clear that Nintendo is implementing such measures in order to prevent folks from sharing images from the game that could be considered a bit naughty. But given the funny, easily meme-able moments present in Tomodachi Life, it does feel a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water.