A new game on the Nintendo Switch, Cooking Mama: Cookstar, was taken offline by Nintendo shortly after its release. The game would run cryptojacking malware after purchase.

Cryptojacking is the unauthorised use of the processing power of a computer for mining bitcoin (BTC). The developer denies this, but that didn’t stop Nintendo and the game can’t be found in their eShop anymore.

Offline after a few hours

Via Reddit, the rumour came to light that Cooking Mama was secretly cutting cryptocurrency after the software was installed on the Switch. The game would quickly deplete the Switch’s battery, which may indicate that it uses more computer power than necessary.

Cooking Mama has been around since 2006 and the series consists of multiple games. What the exact explanation is for uninstalling the software is unclear.

Developer reacts

The developers, 1st Playable, strongly deny the rumors: “As developers we can say with certainty that there is no cryptocurrency or data collection or blockchain or anything else dubious in the code”.

Yet this is more than a crazy rumour, because when Cooking Mama: Cookstar was announced, the press release did mention ‘blockchain’. The developers behind the game say they don’t know anything about this via Twitter.

Also, I personally received this press release a few months back that has recently been shared, so can confirm its legitimacy. This seems to indicate there is some blockchain involvement? pic.twitter.com/AT8cpLXlGN — Ryan Brown 🎮 (@Toadsanime) April 5, 2020

A softawre engineer, SimonTime, says he didn’t find anything in the code on Twitter that indicates something to do with cryptocurrency.

I keep seeing rumours about there being a cryptominer in Cooking Mama: Cookstar, and due to its inclusion, it was pulled from the eShop.

After some RE work, I can safely say there is no cryptominer/blockchain stuff anywhere within Cooking Mama: Cookstar's code. — SimonTime (@itssimontime) April 5, 2020