Pokémon Uranium finally shuts down development, once and for all

After shelving the project in August, the team behind ambitious fan-game Pokémon Uranium has ceased all development. That means no more updates or patches for the free download, which could only be found through unofficial means after Nintendo sent a copyright notice.

"Unfortunately as Pokémon Uranium is a [fan game], there is a limit to how far projects such as these can go," the Uranium Team wrote in a message on Twitter. "We are therefore ceasing development on this project. As such, we, the creators of this game, will no longer be offering game downloads, updates, online services or support for Pokémon Uranium."

That means that whatever version of Uranium players already have their hands on is the final build they’ll ever get to play. The note also puts an end to a production nine years in the making. When Pokémon Uranium finally launched this summer after nearly a decade of development logs and anticipation, it was a quick underground hit, racking up 1.5 million downloads in just a week.

But it wasn’t too far underground for Nintendo to find it. The company has been cracking down on games that resemble its big-name properties, like Mario, Zelda and Pokémon, with an increased fervor over the last few weeks. A remake of Metroid 2: The Return of Samus went through a similar shutdown process, with downloads pulled first before the entire project kicked the bucket.

More than 500 Nintendo homages were pulled off GameJolt last month as well, in light of copyright claims from Nintendo. Fan-games based on beloved series have existed as long as file-sharing has, but it seems that the company has begun cracking the whip.