Nintendo Indie World Showcase dominated by YouTuber cameo leaving games to the wayside

What should have been a spirited social media conversation about all the delightful and varied indie games making their way to the Nintendo Switch platform following the publisher’s Indie World Showcase earlier today got absolutely derailed when YouTube personality Jason “videogamedunkey” Gastrow (Dunkey) appeared in the showcase out of the blue. 

Dunkey made an appearance to promote the upcoming release of Animal Well, an upcoming indie video game his company Bigmode will be publishing. In a display of his textbook zero-context humor, the content creator abruptly appeared on screen after a trailer for Cult of the Lamb DLC, threw a frisbee off screen, and introduced himself as the publisher of Animal Well.

The game’s developer Billy Basso took it from there to discuss the game, as Dunkey disappeared into the background of the shot to walk around on some rocks in a duck pond. Yes, it was a very bizarre display. Needless to say, folks tuned into the showcase were quite taken aback by Dunkey’s sudden ‘invasion’ of the stream, with many calling it a ‘jumpscare’: 

The discourse on Twitter was quite split, with many boycotting Animal Well outright due to Dunkey’s involvement with the game, seemingly as a result of his previous and supposedly divisive opinions of otherwise beloved games. The YouTuber’s supporters, however, were quick to leap to his defense: 

Animal Well is a side-scrolling adventure game being developed by Shared Memory, which is described as a platformer that “flips the traditional Metroidvania on its head,” via IGN. It is slated for release in 2024. Alongside Animal Well, Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase also gave its audience sneak peeks at other upcoming indie titles such as Mineko’s Night Market, My Time at Sandrock, PlateUp!, and Rift of the Necrodancer, among others.