Nintendo Switch Firmware Update Apparently Updates Bad Word Lists

Nintendo has published Version 16.0.1 firmware update for the Nintendo Switch. The update is available to download now.

Nintendo’s official patch notes only shares this information:

General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, Twitter user OatmealDone took a look at what has changed since the update and didn’t notice any significant changes.

OatmealDone describes themselves as a Switch, iOS, and macOS tinkerer. They shared this information on Twitter and Mastodon:

“[Nintendo Switch Firmware Update]

Version 16.0.1 is out.

The official patch notes state “stability” as the sole change.

Internally, the bad words lists were rearranged to reduce erroneous blocking, and various words were added/removed in some languages.

The “BCAT” system module was changed in some way, but I’m not sure how. That being said, it’s probably a bug fix (or fixes?) given how difference reports show no major changes.

And… that’s it.”

For those wondering, BCAT stands for Background Content Asymmetric synchronized delivery and Transmission. I won’t pretend I understand what this is, but these seem to be services within the Nintendo Switch related to content uploads and downloads.

What does sound like what happened is Nintendo was informed that some Nintendo Switch users were using bad words from languages other than English. They had to update their systems so that those words could no longer be used in the system under any context.

We don’t know what could possibly have warranted a full system update, but it’s unlikely these were just expletives or swear words. Hate speech, racial epithets, sexually explicit language, and slurs, are just some examples of language that would need to be removed from these systems. That wouldn’t just be something Nintendo would have to do, but also PlayStation, Xbox, Steam, and definitely mobile devices too.

In any case, Nintendo have been good with adding features to the Switch alongside these updates. So far, they have published updates  that allows users to remap their controllers (from a system level and not a game to game level), use Bluetooth speakers, and add folders for games.

But there’s certainly a lot more that fans are looking for that Nintendo could still work to improve on. For example, Switch folders are hidden under game menus, as opposed to the Wii U and 3DS folders available at the launch screen. They can also add remap function to be separate for each game, and maybe they can surprise us with things we didn’t know we want, like screen mirroring to a smart TV for Switch Lite.