VTubers Banned From YouTube After Streaming Splatoon 3 Porn [Update]

So, uh, awkward. Apparently, it’s possible to display porn within Splatoon 3 matches. This weekend, a group of vtubers broadcasted porn videos in Splatoon 3 by using the ink projectiles as a video screen. The stream caused “Splatoon AV” (adult video) to trend on Japanese Twitter, and the participating vtubing group Sinsogumi issued an apology.

I’m actually kind of fascinated by how they went about this. According to Automaton Media, vtuber Sinsogumi made porn appear by setting the ink transparency to zero, and then showing a porn video underneath. Nintendo didn’t like that and responded by copyright striking one of the more popular “AV” videos. However, some Robin Hoods on the internet have preserved clips of the original stream.

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As you can see, more parts of the porn video are displayed whenever ink is splattered across the field. An archived tweet from one of the participating vtubers says that it was part of a competition where whichever side got banned from YouTube would lose. Kotaku reached out to Sinsogumi, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. The vtubing group’s leader Ikinone Tomeru uploaded a video apology for the stream on October 8. Although her tone is repentant, she did give the apology while wearing a green dinosaur outfit.

Nintendo seemed to respond to the incident today. “Use that violates public order and morals, acts that intentionally mislead the rules of the game, acts that significantly damage the value of the game or characters and the world, and acts that encourage or take advantage of them will be deleted or legally enforced,” tweeted the official Japanese account (which is machine translated). Kotaku reached out to ask if the statement was issued specifically in response to the Splatoon stream but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Honestly, I think the tech is pretty cool. I just wouldn’t upload anything like “Splatoon AV” to YouTube.

Update 10/12/2022 at 10:00 A.M. E.T.: Several vtubers who participated in the “Splatoon AV” match have had their accounts banned by YouTube. Ikinone Tomeru and Kikaze Kimono’s accounts were deleted recently for “multiple or severe violations of YouTube’s policy on nudity or sexual content,” while Sigure’s channel had been deleted during the initial not-safe-for-work stream. Kotaku reached out to YouTube to clarify over whether or not Nintendo had been involved in their account removals, but did not get a response by the time of publication.