Inappropriate Names In Nintendo Switch Sports Prompt Report Function Requests

Many Switch owners have likely been destroying relationships with their friends and family this past weekend, attempting to beat them at tennis or bowling in Nintendo Switch Sports. The family-friendly game launched last week, and players have been getting together to try the game both offline and online.

However, the online mode might not be quite as family-friendly as people were expecting. Players have reported seeing disturbingly inappropriate usernames — none of which we’re going to share here — that reference all manner of uncomfortable topics. Nintendo Switch Sports has a name filtering system to catch bad language already, but many have managed to circumnavigate this.

As reported by Eurogamer, users on the Nintendo Switch Sports subreddit have been discussing the topic, with a handful understandably unhappy with how Nintendo has handled the issue.

Another user has responded to the comment above, suggesting that the game needs an “effective means of reporting people”, which it currently does not have. The only current option players have is to block the person they’ve played against via the Switch system settings. Miis have also allowed players to create avatars that resemble real people, which has resulted in some equally inappropriate creations making their way online.

It’s surprising to see Nintendo drop the ball on this one, as the company is usually on top of any opportunities for user-generated inappropriateness. For example, in Splatoon 2, you can report other players for inappropriate activity using the Nintendo Switch Online app on your phone. Animal Crossing: New Horizon has an in-game report button for inappropriate mail, clothing designs, player profiles, and chat. And in Smash Ultimate, you can report players you’ve contested with online for a number of reasons via the “Vault” menu. Pokémon Sword and Shield and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe don’t currently have an in-game or app reporting tool, however.

Whether it’s a simple case of Nintendo failing to update the game’s list of banned terms isn’t clear at present. This isn’t the only thing that has recently come up around Nintendo Switch Sports’ online modes, either. Yesterday, we covered that bots are being used to potentially fill up the space, with some players claiming they’ve only ever faced one the first time they play the sports online.

We’ll update this article with additional information as and when Nintendo responds.