Nintendo blocks The Binding of Isaac from 3DS eShop

The Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen has taken to Twitter to air his frustrations over Nintendo's refusal to publish his roguelike baby adventure because of its controversial religious overtones.

“Attention: After a long internal debate Nintendo has decided NOT to allow the Binding of Isaac on the 3ds. :(,” he posted last night, later adding, “As many assumed the reasons were due to the games 'questionable religious content'. Thank GOD Steam exists!”

The Binding of Isaac takes its name and inspiration from one of the more disturbing stories in the Hebrew Bible. It casts players as a naked baby who is forced to fight his way through a basement of horrors after discovering his mother has received orders from God to offer him as a sacrifice.

To be fair, this is fairly controversial subject matter. That said, for Nintendo to take a moral stance now after populating its 3DS library with Resident Evil (zombies!), Driver (illegal activities!), Metal Gear Solid 3D (murder! War!), and Dead or Alive Dimensions (big boobs!), seems a tad hypocritical.

Throwing his support behind other The Binding of Isaac supporters, Edmund said, “Seriously though, i gotta again publicly thank steam for fully supporting Isaac and not requiring ESRB or censoring its published games...Just one of many reasons why Steam is the top dog of digital distribution.”

What do you think of Nintendo's judgement?

Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries. 

Latest in Action
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"
a titanium watch with grey and orange features on the arms and face
You can look like Solid Snake with this Death Stranding 2 watch, but it'll cost you over $1,500
Players in GTA Online running businesses and playing missions
GTA publisher is suing a GTA Online website that lets you buy hacked accounts, which "risks upending the GTA 5 player experience"
Death Stranding 2 trailer showing Sam shooting at an enemy
Hideo Kojima aims to beat the ‘walking simulator’ allegations as Death Stranding 2 releases combat-heavy trailer
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima is still hung up on his ex, as Death Stranding 2 features a Metal Gear Solid doppelganger the director says is the spitting image of Solid Snake
God of War Ragnarok
God of War turns 20 this month, but before you get too excited, Santa Monica Studio says "there are no planned announcements" at its celebratory panel
Latest in News
Anthony Mackie in Captain America: Brave New World
Brave New World box office crosses milestone for Captain America movies, even though it still might not break even
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor
The first three episodes of the best Star Wars show are now available to watch for free ahead of the Andor season 2 premiere
Mio and Zoe holding a dragon during the trailer for Split Fiction.
Split Fiction blows It Takes Two out of the water by selling 1 million copies in 2 days, becoming Hazelight's fastest selling game ever
Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he'll "apologize beforehand" for Death Stranding 2 moments with Troy Baker's Higgs which are "so ridiculous" that "you'll probably throw the controller"
a stone giant walks on a field near a cliff
Erenshor, the 'MMORPG' with fake players that's not actually an MMO at all, gets an imminent release date
Michael Bay
Michael Bay and James Cameron had a call to commiserate over the state of the movie industry: "No one can greenlight anything anymore"