Nintendo blocks Brave x Junction in the West over alleged sexual content involving minors

The release of Brave x Junction has become a topic of debate in recent weeks, after the game was officially blocked from launching on the Western Nintendo eShop. The decision surprised many fans, as the RPG launched normally in Japan and on other platforms without any issues. Now, the community wants to understand why the Western version did not receive approval.

Publisher Rideon Japan confirmed that the North American and European Switch eShops flagged part of the game’s content as “sexually problematic involving children,” which prevents the title from appearing in the store.

According to the company, Brave x Junction is a blackjack-based RPG originally released in October 2025. The game combines turn-based card battles with classic fantasy aesthetics, where the player defeats monsters using strategy and hand-reading skills.

Nothing explicit is shown in the game; in fact, in Japan it received a 15+ rating from CERO. Even so, some characters feature revealing outfits and defeat illustrations, which likely influenced Nintendo’s decision in the West.

They saw the scenes below and that alone was enough to block the game.

Despite this, Brave x Junction is available as usual on the PlayStation Store, Steam, and the Japanese Nintendo eShop. The block affects only the Western Switch version, leaving many players confused about the inconsistency across platforms and regions.

Rideon had already hinted in early October that there was a problem in the Western evaluation process, but only recently confirmed that the release was outright prohibited.

To explain the situation to the public, the developers posted parodic images in which the Mage is informed by a soldier that her design was classified as sexual content involving children. The character reacts indignantly, questioning how they decided she was a child, clearly reflecting the team’s criticism of the decision. In one of the images, a poster in the background reads, “We do not tolerate sexual content involving children,” reinforcing the sensitivity of the matter.

What becomes clear is that Western reviewers determined that some characters could be considered underage, even though that was never the artist’s intention. Rideon shared the two designs deemed problematic but did not clarify whether changes would be made to release the Western Switch version of Brave x Junction.

Although the game is available on Steam in English, there is an important detail to highlight: the game has a “sexual content” tag on Steam, meaning you can only view the store page if your account is set to display adult games.

The problem is that aside from those illustrations of the girls, the game contains no sexual content at all. One particular review comment even went viral:

“The game is good, but why the strange choice to classify just one image (the fighter’s outfit) as containing frequent nudity or sexual content, resulting in it being labeled as adult content? There is no nudity in the game and it doesn’t feature sexual themes, which leaves me confused. This means fewer people will see the game, and only those with the adult filter off will expect adult content, only to be disappointed when they find there isn’t any.”