Nintendo forces Garry’s Mod to delete 20 years of content — Garry confirms Nintendo is behind Steam Workshop purge

PC gaming classic Garry’s Mod is nearly 20 years worth of content, as Nintendo has issued a takedown notice for all Nintendo-based user content in the Steam Workshop for the game. Garry, the eponymous creator of the game, confirmed on Twitter/X today that there is no mistake, Nintendo themselves issued the major takedown notice.

Garry’s Mod players spent the first hours after the announcement questioning whether Nintendo truly issued the takedown, pinning the potential blame on trolls. However, Garry took to the internet to confirm Nintendo’s involvement. He tweeted, “I have been assured that the takedowns have been verified by Nintendo as legit, so this will now continue as planned. Sorry. 🫸🍄🗑️” The Garry’s Mod Steam page notes that the process of complying with the takedown will take much time, adding “If you want to help us by deleting your Nintendo related uploads and never uploading them again, that would help us a lot.”

Nintendo has a reputation for bringing litigation to companies that it belives harm its brand. The company received news coverage most recently for a lawsuit against the Yuzu Switch emulator, arguing in their suit that all emulation in any form is illegal. This move angered game preservation and emulation enthusiasts. Today’s Garry’s Mod takedown is harder to argue with, as ripping or copying copyrighted assets is fair game for a DMCA request.

Garry’s Mod will likely spark good memories longtime PC gamers. The Steam darling has been a fixture of the PC gaming landscape since 2006, inspiring many eras of internet culture like the multiplayer game modes Prop Hunt and Mafia-like Trouble in Terrorist Town which have seen extensive imitations in AAA games, and years of YouTube animations culminating in 2023 megahit Skibidi Toilet. The sandbox game is known for the massive workshop of user-made creations, which Nintendo took issue with when it discovered years’ worth of ripped Nintendo assets in-game.

If you’re feeling nostalgic and looking to boot Garry’s Mod back up on your PC, it will thankfully run on almost any computer produced in the last 10 years. But if you’re looking for an excuse to upgrade anyways, consider our most recent build guide on PCs at any budget.