Fans of the Cooking Mama game were shocked when they realized they could not purchase the popular game from the Nintendo eShop. The game was slated to be released on Nintendo Switch on March 31 in the US. However, it made a short appearance before being pulled down.
Cryptojacking Accusations
The actions led to an outcry on social media, as no one was aware of what had happened. Not only were digital copies hard to find, but it was also almost impossible to find physical copies of the game according to a recent media report. The report claims that the Cooking Mama game was accused of installing secret code that would allow the developers to mine Bitcoin and steal private user data. Once the rumor went viral, Cooking Mama was trending globally on Twitter. Many people began to suspect that the game was using cryptojacking code to mine crypto after the developers announced they would integrate blockchain technology into it.
A Twitter Thread to Explain the Issue
One person who tried to find the underlying cause of the issue is Ryan Brown. He is also the main source of the saga surrounding Cooking Mama. According to a twitter thread, the developers claim that they are not mining crypto or collecting user data. They added that the Nintendo Switch platform was safe and Consequently, there were no issues with privacy and data like on some PC and mobile games. The developers also stated that there was no malicious code in the game.
What is Going On?
Based on the article posted by Nintendo Life and the explanation given in Twitter by Ryan Brown, it would appear that Cooking Mama initially came with some blockchain technology integration. However, it appears the developers later decided to get rid of the code, which might have led to some of the optimization issues surrounding the game.
The Origin of the Rumors
According to a recent article by IGN, the rumors most likely began due to uncertainty about who published the game. The original creator of the series was Office Create, which later changed its name to Cooking Mama Ltd. However, it does not appear that the company has any relationship with 1st Playable, which is the currently listed developer of the game. Originally, 1st Playable did not even acknowledge the game on their site, although they have since updated their site since the rumors went viral.
Later on, they tweeted that they were not aware of why the game had been delisted while acknowledging that they were the creators of the game. However, they added that copies of the game were out there and they were as frustrated as everyone else was with the issues around the distribution of the game.
The most likely explanation for the distribution problem is the outbreak of COVID-19; many companies have had to cut back on the number of active staff, to reduce the possible spread of the disease. Since game distribution is not recognized as an essential service in most jurisdictions, it is the most likely reason why there are issues with the distribution of the game.
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