Japanese indie developer Hikotel recently shared an update about the delayed Switch release of their new title Kokoro Clover Sun: Prehistoric Invaders. After a very prolonged review process, the developer has been notified of an issue blocking the game’s release on the Nintendo Switch store – it has been flagged as containing in-game advertising, which is against the platform’s rules. The unfortunate part is, Hikotel’s game is kind of being misunderstood here.
Kokoro Clover Sun: Prehistoric Invaders is a new entry to the existing Kokoro Clover series of story-driven 2D platformers. Inspired by 2000s Japanese kids’ TV anime and tokusatsu, these games feel like “playable anime,” with the latest title including an animated opening, ending and commercial breaks. Some of Hikotel’s parodic commercials in the game make nods to Kokoro Clover Season 1, the previous title in the series, but it seems the Nintendo Switch store has interpreted this as actual advertising.
This did not seem to be a problem over on Steam (which also has strict rules against making players watch ads to continue playing), as Kokoro Clover Sun: Prehistoric Invaders launched without issues on the platform back on March 27. In their latest dev blog entry, Hikotel comments that the Switch store’s rules are stricter. “Apparently, even if it belongs to the same series, there are no rights issues, or it’s simply meant to resemble a commercial, it’s still not allowed. They’re very strict.”
As a result, Hikotel will have to alter Kokoro Clover Sun: Prehistoric Invaders for the Switch store, swapping out the “commercials” and other references to past titles in the series. The game will need to go through re-review, which has caused the developer to lose hope for a May release.
Kokoro Clover Sun: Prehistoric Invaders is out now on Steam. The Nintendo Switch version is estimated to launch sometime mid-to-late June.
