Pokémon Co. Is Now DMCAing Years Old Videos Showing Pokémon Modded Into Other Games

The war on video game mods that involve Pokémon continues! I can’t say for sure that the Pokémon Company’s renewed focus on taking down anything relating to these mods for 3rd party video games was kickstarted by the release of Palworld, sometimes pitched as “Pokémon with guns”, and a mod for the game that put actual Pokémon into the game, but it sure feels that way. Even before the game’s release, of course, the company has always acted as a jealous protector of anything related to its intellectual property, even as it has had no issues with using the work of others itself.

And now that renewed focus appears to be going to ridiculous lengths. YouTuber NoahJ456 noted on ExTwitter that a video of his featuring a Call of Duty mod that put Pokémon in the game seven years ago was recently DMCAd by The Pokémon Co.

NoahJ456, who has 5.21 million subscribers on YouTube, tweeted a warning to other content creators, advising that if their videos feature any sort of modded Pokémon content, “I would delete/unlist it ASAP.”

Tweeting a picture of the notice from YouTube, NoahJ456 said: “Just got a manual strike for a video I made seven years ago featuring Pokémon modded into COD Zombies. Two more strikes and my channel gets deleted.”

Now, as I am always willing to say, the company is within its rights here. It can issue these takedowns, given the use of Pokémon IP in these videos and mods. But as I also always say, the company doesn’t have to do this. There are all kinds of video game mods out there that have a lot of fun by injecting third-party characters and content into other games. And yet, despite the fact that all these mods exist without being taken down, the world still somehow manages to spin on its proper axle.

And I’m not the only one that thinks the Palworld mod is what set all of this off. Hell, even the creator of that mod, going by the handle Toasted Shoes, publicly stated that they felt responsible for this particular takedown.

“I didn’t think they’d go scorched earth and I certainly didn’t think it would lead to a chain reaction of them punishing @NoahJ456 and every other creator. I am truly sorry that me being reckless may have played some part.

“Crazy that it took a month to go after everyone else but it seems they now have their sights set on other creators.”

It sure does, which is a very shitty look for The Pokémon Co. These are fans of the company’s content that are looking to have a little fun within other games by injecting the Pokémon content they enjoy into them. This is the spread of fandom and culture at work and I can’t for the life of me even imagine how it represents any kind of threat to The Pokémon Co. or its bottom line.

But fun isn’t allowed if it is also a transgression on corporate control, it seems. What a lesson for youngsters out there when it comes to exactly what this company is all about.