lobbying

Nintendo has denied reports that it has been lobbying Japanese lawmakers against generative AI, insisting it “has not had any contact with the Japanese government” about the highly controversial emerging tech.

The denial comes after Japanese politician Satoshi Asano posted an apology on social media after claiming Nintendo was lobbying the Japanese government. This was followed by a further apology earlier today, after which Satoshi deleted the original post.

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While the megacorp typically declines to comment on speculation, on this occasion Nintendo was keen to shoot the rumour down and stressed that while it was not lobbying, “whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights”.

“Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government about generative AI,” the company wrote.

“Whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.”

Contrary to recent discussions on the internet, Nintendo has not had any contact with the Japanese government about generative AI. Whether generative AI is involved or not, we will continue to take necessary actions against infringement of our intellectual property rights.

— 任天堂株式会社（企業広報・IR） (@NintendoCoLtd) October 5, 2025

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Nintendo recently shared its thoughts on generative AI, and assured fans that its games will always have “a human touch”, with Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser saying: “We still believe that what makes our games special is our developers, their artistic capabilities, their insight into how people play. So, there’s always, always going to be a human touch, and a human engagement in how we develop and build our games.”

Nintendo’s position is at odds with many of its contemporaries. Back in 2024, Square Enix CEO Takashi Kiryu stated the company would be “aggressive in applying AI”, with developers admitting they “dabbled” with AI for the ill-fated shooter Foamstars, Professor Layton studio Level-5 has used AI tool Stable Diffusion, and even Capcom has admitted experimenting with generative AI too. Sega also has an in-house AI team.

In fact, a recent survey conducted by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA), the organiser of Tokyo Game Show, showed that over half of Japanese game companies are using AI in their development.

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Stop Destroying Videogames – the European campaign inspired by the Stop Killing Games movement – has shared a progress update as EU countries continue verifying petition signatures, saying it’s preparing for the next stage, which will include “countering misinformation and industry lobbying”.

Stop Destroying Videogames is looking to convince the EU to pass regulations preventing “the remote disabling of video games by the publishers, before providing reasonable means to continue functioning of said video games without the involvement from the side of the publisher.” To that end, it turned to the European Citizens’ Initiative – an official EU mechanism designed to provide a way for citizens to propose a legal act to the European Commission – and successfully surpassed 1.4m signatures before the petition closed in July.

With several months having passed since then, Stop Destroying Videogames organisers have now shared a progress update on the Stop Killing Games subreddit. At present, the post explained, all signatures are being checked by national authorities. As previously noted, if 1m signatures are successfully verified (the post adds “early reports from several countries show around 97 percent of signatures being valid”), the petition can then be presented to the EU for either a public hearing or full debate session at the European Parliament. “That moment will mark the start of the legislative phase,” the post continues, “where the Commission and Parliament must decide how to respond.”

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While verification continues – a process that should take around three months – Stop Destroy Videogames is preparing for the next stage of its campaign. The goal, organisers explain, is to ensure “our initiative cannot be ignored”, and so it’s working toward, “Legislative outreach to Members of Parliament and the Commission; countering misinformation and industry lobbying; strengthening our community structures to support this next stage.” Some work will, by necessity, remain behind the scenes. “Past attempts to undermine the initiative,” organisers write, “have shown us the risks of being too open.”

Stop Destroying Videogames also noted some “long-time contributors” – including Ross Scott, the figurehead of the main Stop Killing Games initiative – have “stepped back” after years of effort. In a follow-up comment, Ross clarified, “It’s more like I’m ‘on call’ for anything where me being involved would help a lot. Most of what’s happening now is best left to people familiar with EU political processes like Mortiz [Katzner], so I’m leaving most things to people who know what they’re doing better than I do to maximise our odds.”

“This campaign exists only because of you,” the post concludes, “and with your continued support we can make sure our voices are heard in Brussels.”

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Nintendo denies lobbying over genAI, but stresses it will continue fighting IP infringement “whether AI is involved or not”

As Stop Destroying Videogames petition verification continues in EU, organisers are preparing to ‘counter misinformation and industry lobbying’