N64’s Goldeneye 007, one of the most iconic multiplayer games to ever be released, has been unbanned in Germany, sparking speculation that this could be a sign it may be on its way to Nintendo Switch Online or another platform.
Goldeneye 007 has been part of the German Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors list for some time, but Schnittberichte.com has reported that it was recently removed, meaning it is now legal to advertise and sell in stores in Germany.
This development is made even more interesting because there is usually an automatic review of any media on the list after 25 years, but Goldeneye 007 was released only 24 years ago in 1997. This could mean someone was lobbying for its removal from the list early.
Schnittberichte.com also notes that Stadlbauer Marketing – a toymaker who also licenses Mario Kart for its Carrera slot car line – has the German rights to Goldeneye 007. This could be a big hint that someone wants to re-release it in some form, be that on Nintendo Switch Online, on Xbox as original developer Rare is owned by Microsoft, or for licensed toys.
While this may be a promising sign, bringing Goldeneye 007 to modern platforms requires much more to actually happen. One of the biggest reasons is Nintendo or another company would have to do its part in negotiating the rights for the James Bond license and possibly the actors’ faces that appear in it in digital form like Pierce Brosnan.
Hopefully, when/if Goldeneye 007 is added to Nintendo Switch Online, it will be in a bit better shape than it is in now. Players who have already upgraded to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack to play N64 and SEGA games have reported issues of input lag, sound delays, frame rate issues, and incorrect controller layouts.
For more on Goldenye 007, check out a fan’s remake of Goldeneye in Far Cry 5, how a Goldeneye 007 remaster was canceled by Nintendo with only a few bugs to fix, and how Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make Goldeneye more family-friendly.
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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.