Update (Wed 5th Feb, 2020 10:00 GMT): We've now received a response regarding To The Moon's disappearance from the Nintendo eShop last month. In a statement provided to Nintendo Life, X.D. Network has shared the following:
"The reason of the issue that To the Moon was taken down from Nintendo EU eShop was that the ratings for the EU region were changed after release. Nintendo informed us and we submitted a new patch for the rating changes during the holiday."
Thankfully, that patch has now passed the review stage and To The Moon is once again available on the Switch eShop. If you were hoping to get your hands on it, we'd certainly recommend you do so now that you have the chance. It actually made it into our top three best Switch eShop games of January, too.
Original Story (Wed 22nd Jan, 2020 11:15 GMT): Last week saw the launch of the wonderful To The Moon on Nintendo Switch across Europe and North America. We couldn't recommend the thing enough in our review, but European fans might now struggle to get their hands on it.
The game released on 16th January and has been sitting on the Switch eShop ever since. Checking the digital store today, however, reveals that the game has mysteriously vanished in Europe, while still being perfectly available in North America. Even the page for the game on Nintendo's European website has been wiped.
So what's happened here? Usually, when we see a game vanish like this, a rating issue or similar tends to be the culprit. That could be the case here, but the game's publisher hasn't addressed the game's disappearance on social media or via press release in any shape or form. For now, the only way fans in Europe can get the game is by using an account from a different region, although it's worth noting that the game is still playable if you downloaded it before it disappeared.
We've reached out to X.D. Network, the game's publisher, to ask about the game's disappearance. We'll make sure to update this article with any comment we receive in response.
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 38
Interesting. Already grabbed it due to the launch sale though so no biggie.
Hopefully temporary. Happened several times, including The Big Journey which went MIA during its own launch sale but has reappeared by now.
Sinatra strikes again.
I know exactly why this is!
The end of the game has a glitch. Without spoiling too much, there's a segment at the end that causes the game to close and boot to menu. This happens repeatedly and having scoured forums on the game I realise I'm not the only one.
So one imagines the game has been pulled until the game is fixed/patched. The alternative of leaving the game for sale when it is literally unfinishable for many people is obviously not an option.
Fingers crossed it does come back sooner rather than later. And here's hoping I won't have to start again from scratch.
I grabbed it last night fortunately. Hopefully it's just what @pip_muzz said and a patch will fix any errors.
@pip_muzz my thoughts exactly. Happened to me twice, so watched it on youtube.
Meh, played it on Steam. Wasn't a big fan of the game so no big loss for me
I was playing the first 3 sections a few nights ago with the pro controller and I was getting drift - the character I was controlling was moving down the screen on their own. I checked another game and it was fine (so it's not my pro controller).
@pip_muzz talk about saying "I'd pay double the price to have a feature like that". You really do, in this case.
If you bought the game, can you download it if it's gone?
@LeChuck i had same problem sporadically throughout my play through.
Luckily i finished it with out the ending glitch thou.
It's a wonderful story to experience, despite the current issues. Might be one of those where it's 'better elsewhere' (also cheaper)
I guess you could say the game went...To the moon!
Badum Tsss! Thank you! Thank you! I'll be here all week!
Maybe digital games actually have a limit of how many there are. Hmmm. Holy Cow! We better buy as many digital games as we can before they disappear forever! Omg! This must be for all gaming platforms! Hurry everyone, buy as many games as you can! Who cares about debt, this is a do or die situation!
I was about to buy it last night with my gold coins but it had vanished. I guess I'll be waiting till it gets fixed and back on the E-shop
I was able to play it over the weekend in North America with no glitches. Hopefully it gets restored soon. Great story.
Games seem to vanish all the time, usually it's temporary.
I saw your review and remembered I bought it for my phone. Downloaded it and it crashes on start up. I have an oppo phone, so not as common as Samsung, but not obscure either. Fortunately my tablet from 2014 does play it.
Witch and Hero had same thing happen to. Is weird.
Oh no! O_O with Mario's voice
Sounds like a cruel prank.
@LeChuck that's interesting - I've never had the cursed Joy-con drift thank goodness - but I've had one game on my Switch lite drift - that new budget Rally game - but like you, other games don't do it - so it isn't the hardware.
@pip_muzz Sad to hear that, but I'm glad to hear the developer has the decency to pull the game from the store when they realized it was broken. Other studios, like Firaxis with Civilization 6, decide to put their game on sale while it's broken...
its also gone in australia Eshop
@LeChuck Yes the weird character moves on their own thing happens to me a few times as well. Thankfully, I was still able to finish the game a few days ago. It was definitely an enjoyable story.
@pip_muzz huh, I've seen that exact thing happen to some twenty other games (tiny metal and zero gunner 2 for example) so that sounds like it might be it.
You got pretty far in though huh, could you tell me a little bit about the game's appeal?
I've only ever played the first twenty minutes or so, which featured writing so cringe-inducing I had to delet forever - meaning I basically missed out on the entire game.
Super Crate Box vanished shortly after release too, and that still hasn't reappeared.
Another Nicalis strikes again.
Bye bye launch sale..
I know. 2 bucks ain't that bad but still.
Looks like it should be back within the next week: https://twitter.com/reives_freebird/status/1220094362467610625?s=21
I hope they re-do the sale. Was about to download it on last day of sale to find it's still not available.
I just finished the game yesterday and loved it. I actually bought it when I heard that it was taken off UK shop. I could not stop playing it until the ending. I am not quite sure what people mean by a glitch, the ending of the game worked fine for me.
To the moon is a great game.
@Judgedean same here, the should put it on sale again.
@GameOtaku Who?
Anyway, its good that they addressed it, but companies should probably let people know right away instead of just leaving them in the dark.
Strange how Ittle Dew 2 still hasn't resolved their publisher issues and, has been un-buy-able on the US eshop for at least 6 months.
Sooo...that game-breaking bug that stopped spme people from viewing the ending isn't fixed then?
So they didn’t fix the game-breaking bug...and a European ratings change caused it to be taken down from the Australian eShop too? Right.
Edit: and the 20% discount is gone. I hope they bring it back because I’m sure I’m not the only one that missed out on it.
@BenAV so how is the game?
@kosterix I loved it.
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