nintendo’s Legal Team Shut Down “Nindies” Branding, Former Employees Reveal
REDMOND, WA – Fans wondering why Nintendo stopped using the “Nindies” moniker to promote indie games on its platforms now have an answer: legal concerns.Former Nintendo of America employees Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang recently detailed on a podcast how the company’s legal department ultimately halted the use of the popular term, despite internal enthusiasm and developer support.
“Nindies” was a widely recognized label during the Wii U, 3DS, and early Nintendo Switch eras, serving as a convenient way to identify independent games available on Nintendo systems. Though, according to Yang, Nintendo’s legal team steadfast the practice of combining “Nintendo” with another word weakened the brand’s ability to defend its trademark in potential future legal disputes.
“You can’t do that as you’re not supposed to combine the brand word,” Yang explained.
Ellis added that the term originated with Nintendo’s PDR team, who enthusiastically embraced it, creating merchandise and a logo.”They made t-shirts… they made a logo. They made all this, but they got the tap on the shoulder from the legal team like, ‘You can’t do this.'”
The PDR team reportedly challenged the legal decision, with one advocate “going toe-to-toe with legal,” but ultimately, the legal department prevailed. Ellis summarized the outcome bluntly: “You can’t beat that.”
The situation echoes past branding issues, with Yang citing “Wiimote” as a previous example of a combined term Nintendo discouraged, preferring “Wii Remote.” according to legal counsel, such combinations “dilute the brand.”
despite the public-facing discontinuation of “Nindies,” Nintendo continues to utilize similar internal terminology, such as “Nsite” and “Nbassador,” though thes terms are not used in external communications.
