Nintendo deletes popular Mario Maker 2 level for unexplained reasons

Enlarge / A scene from the creation of the since-deleted “Kai-Zero G” in Super Mario Maker 2. (credit: YouTube / GrandPooBear)

The unexplained removal of one of the most popular, ultra-difficult Super Mario Maker 2 courses is raising concerns about Nintendo’s moderation policies for the popular Switch title.

David Hunt, a popular Mario speedrunner who goes by GrandPooBear online, noted this morning that his level “Pile of Poo: Kai-Zero G” had been unceremoniously removed from Nintendo’s Super Mario Maker 2 servers. Since its upload on July 5, the low-gravity course—which took its name from the ultra-hard set of Mario ROM hacks known as Kaizo games—had received over 1,200 “hearts” from over 10,500 players as of last night. This was enough to put it on the first page of popular “Super Expert” courses in the game.

But today isn’t the first time GrandPooBear has faced the seeming caprice of Nintendo’s online moderation. Three years ago, he found all of his popular levels in the original Super Mario Maker had been deleted, a state of affairs Nintendo was not able to adequately explain in a recorded call with the streamer at the time.