Squanchtendo rebrands to avoid Nintendo clash

The virtual reality developer co-founded by the co-creator of Rick & Morty has undergone a name change.

Squanchtendo Games was originally formed by Justin Roilland and former Epic Games executive producer Tanya Watson last year, and the name was instantly recognised as a portmanteau of Squanch (a planet from Rick & Morty) and a certain Japanese platform holder.

While Squanchtendo operated well enough for its first year, collaborating with Crows Crows Crows on virtual reality title Accounting, Roilland and Watson have since decided to rebrand to avoid any potential clash with Nintendo.

As you might expect from a studio with comedy lineage, the official statement is wonderfully ironic.

"We recently discovered a video game related company with a similar name to our former name," it reads. "We never could have predicted the discovery of a video game entity with such a similar name. What a surprise to us. We were shocked and surprised.

"So we decided in order to avoid confusion we are changing the back half of our name. We are now Squanch Games. Hooray."

It should be noted there is no word that Nintendo has contested the name, or was seeking any form of legal action. This appears to be a purely internal decision at Squanch Games.

The rebrand also gives the studio the chance to tease the announcement of its first title, which is expected to be made during the pre-show for The Game Awards tomorrow.