Social media influencer, Twitch streamer, and adult entertainer Pokeprincxss has built a considerable online following, but recently, she was forced to re-brand after Nintendo threatened her with legal action. Now known as Digitalprincxss, the TikTok star is looking to grow her following with a new name
Game Rant had the opportunity to chat with Digitalprincxss about her legal trouble with Nintendo, her initial reaction to the situation, her favorite video games, and much more.
Q: When did you first hear Nintendo was coming after you?
A: Nintendo contacted my LegalZoom lawyer a couple of months ago. They contacted her and then she sent me the cease and desist. But as she sent me the the cease and desist, she also then withdrew from my case, and then she wasn’t my lawyer anymore. Because she was like, “Yeah, we don’t handle third-party things, so good luck!”
I kind of like was freaking out. I was like, “What the f*** do I do? You’re literally just leaving me! What am I supposed to do? I’m getting sued by Nintendo!” And she was like, “Well, I can’t really give you legal advice.” I was like, “Can you recommend me to somebody?” And then she ended up recommending me to a lady who I felt like she did really well and I really liked her.
Q: When you say ‘sued,’ was there an actual lawsuit filed?
A: So what it was, it was a cease and desist of all my merchandise. And they had full rights to any net profits I made. But the thing is they also made me pay not only for Pokemon infringing things, but anything that said Pokeprincxss. They said they own the rights to [Pokeprincxss] because of the word “Poke.” And then they basically threatened me saying that they would take further actions to sue me for damages for damaging the company if I continued to keep the username.
Q: How much did you have to pay to Nintendo?
A: I don’t think I want that to be public. But just to make an estimate, I didn’t owe them like millions of dollars or anything. I ended up giving about $30,000 in refunds [to customers]. It did hurt a little bit, but with how I’m doing now, I’ve been able to make my money back and more because of publicity and stuff like that.
Q: Did you attempt to resist the name change or try to fight it in court?
A: The first thing I wanted to do was comply completely because Nintendo is a billion dollar company and I’m a small person and they could literally destroy me. So at first I agreed, yes I was wrong, they deserve all the money. But why did I have to change my username? Because I had it for eight years. And there’s many other creators that have the word “Poke” in their name. My lawyer provided screenshots of other creators with the word “Poke” and people that are verified with the word “Poke.” And it all came back to me being a sex worker because when we tried to use that argument, they were like, “Yeah, no, she can’t do that. We don’t want her doing that.” And if I do, they’ll take legal action. And honestly, it kind of sucks, but I understand it in a business way.
I think a lot of people look at me like I’m playing the victim. But I’m not playing the victim, as I am super understanding with Nintendo. I don’t have any hard feelings towards Nintendo. And obviously I feel like I have every reason to be upset about losing a username I had for eight years because that’s what everyone knows me by.
When I grew to be more of an influencer, Pokeprincxss became more than just being surrounded by Pokemon. It was more of like letting people know that they can still enjoy the things they liked as a kid and just because you grow up doesn’t mean that you need to shove that into the closet or whatever. You can still be allowed to enjoy video games, cartoons, and everything like that. and just empowering people to be whoever they want and not caring what others have to say. And that’s really what Pokeprincxss became.
My brand wasn’t Pokemon, my brand was empowerment, being whoever you want to be. And that’s the thing I wanted people to understand. I’m not playing the victim, I’m not saying f*** Nintendo. I’m not boycotting them. I want people to love Nintendo even more. At the end of the day, it’s all just business.
Q: When you first heard Nintendo was threatening you with legal action, what was your initial reaction?
A: I broke down and started crying and shaking because I was so freaked out. I was scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I thought they were basically going to take everything from me, so I was petrified. I was scared that a big billion dollar company was going to come after me. It was a heartbreaking moment. I felt like my boyfriend or something was breaking up with me. Because they’re like, “Yeah, we don’t like you actually. You’re a sex worker!” And even though that’s not what they said, in their letter, they did really put an emphasis on me being an adult entertainer and they don’t at all affiliate with that kind of stuff. They don’t want that to ruin the company. And it does suck because it brings up the stigma against sex workers. But when you get into that industry, you have to understand that’s the consequences and these are things that can happen.
Q: Do you think it was the trademark filing that first triggered Nintendo to find you?
A: I think what happened is when I started selling merchandise, I didn’t know what I was doing was wrong. I was told you could sell spoof designs. You see it everywhere at Comic-Cons, conventions. People have Pokemon s*** all over the place. So I didn’t think anything was wrong with it and I wasn’t trying to be malicious. I had a bunch of people always commenting and being like, “Oh, I can’t wait for Nintendo to sue you! Like how can you do this? I’m sending this to Nintendo!” I ‘m pretty sure Nintendo probably definitely had to get some reports and some emails saying, “Hey this b**** is infringing on your products” and things like that.
And when you do search “poke” on the trademark thing, I’m on the front page. Obviously my application’s dead, but I think that probably had a thing to do it. So they saw it and they saw “adult entertainer” and then they checked my social media platforms, they see that I’m all about Pokemon. And then it doesn’t help having Pokemon on my merchandise. So I get why people could think maybe I had an affiliation with them, but I never once tried to say that I’m sponsored by Pokemon. And I even made it clear before for people that Pokemon would never sponsor me because I’m a sex worker.
Q: Where did the name Pokeprincxss come from?
A: I used to have a bunch of usernames, but eight years ago, I was still obviously into Pokemon. This guy I was talking to, he’s like, “You’re a little Pokeprincess.” And I was like, “Oh my god, I actually really like that name!” And that’s the reason why I chose the username. It wasn’t at all to steal from a brand. So many other creators have Nintendo reference usernames, so I never saw a big problem with my name being pokeprincxss. And a lot people actually told me when I was talking about having to get my name changed, they were like, “I didn’t even know that prokeprincxss stood for Pokemon. I thought it was poke the food.”
Q: Why Digitalprincxss? Is it inspired at all by Digimon?
A: No, it was not inspired by Digimon. My job is on the internet and all my stuff is digital. It was either between pixelprincxss or digitalprincxss, but there’s already a Twitch streamer called pixelprincxss.
I am glad I had this experience and understand [copyright and trademarks] more because the last thing I want to do is steal someone’s brand or feel like I’m stealing from someone’s brand. I know how that feels because when I had my merchandise, I had people stealing my designs and selling them on websites like Amazon.
Q: When did you first start playing Pokemon?
A: I have a photo of me when I was three years old and I have this Bulbasaur sweater. I used to steal my brothers’ Pokemon cards and sit there and watch Pokemon. My parents provided me with so much of my Pokemon addiction. Whenever my dad picked me up from daycare, he had to bring me a new Pokemon toy. It was just a thing growing up that made me really happy and I was able to connect with. I was very introverted. I am a very introverted person, even though the way I act like on the internet doesn’t seem like it.
I started off with Hey You, Pikachu and I had the whole microphone thing. And then it went to Pokemon Stadium, then Pokemon Colosseum. My favorite one is Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness. Not many people even remember it, but that was my favorite one, on GameCube. I have every single Pokemon video game in my collection.
Q: Your son is named Onix, right? After the Pokemon?
A: It’s spelled just like the Pokemon, O-N-I-X. When I was pregnant, I decided if I had a boy I was going to name him Onix, if I had a girl I was going to name her Celebi. Because I’m just that psychotic and crazy about Pokemon. My dog’s name is Eevee, too. I name everything after Pokemon. I just love the company. Love it so much.
Q: What was your first Pokemon tattoo?
A: My first Pokemon tattoo was when I was 16. I got a basement tattoo. Worst idea ever. It was a Mew on my side, and I actually have a cover-up over the Mew of another Mew. It was Mew because Mew is my favorite Pokmeon. Mew is a careless, little bubbly Pokemon that doesn’t see the evil in the world and is just clueless, just like me – clueless and wants all the good things in the world.
My first legal tattoo was my Vulpix one. I have a tattoo of Gloom, and Gloom’s actually my least favorite Pokemon, but you know, you got to show the haters that you love them, too.
Q: Do you play anything besides Pokemon? Any other games you like?
A: I stream a lot of first-person shooter games. I like playing the popular games that are out so I’m really into Overwatch. Very big lover of Halo and Destiny. I like Valorant. There’s Rogue Company that just came out. I’m really into Final Fantasy and Animal Crossing.
Q: How do people enter your Switch giveaway?
A: Go to my Twitch stream [click here to visit Digitalprincxss’s Twitch channel] and then put in “!enter” If you subscribe to me, you get more points and a better chance of winning. If you do a tip, you get more points. I’m really excited for that because I’ve been talking about doing a Switch giveaway, and I figured the perfect time would be when Nintendo sued me. Might as well go out with a big bang.
Q: PS5 or Xbox Series X?
A: PS5 because I really want to get that game Stray. It’s like the little cat that you get to be. I am so excited for it. I don’t have a war against consoles. So I’m a big lover of Nintendo, but I actually prefer Sony over Nintendo. I played strictly Pokemon on Nintendo, but I played majority growing up on the PlayStation.
Q: Anything else you want to add or get out there?
A: I don’t have any hate for [Nintendo]. I still love the company. I take full responsibility for what I did and it was just that I was very uneducated when it all happened, and I didn’t mean any malicious intent. And hopefully this can be like a good role model thing for other people so they can look at me and they don’t make the same mistakes that I did. I should’ve looked more into management.
There is no one to blame but myself for the Nintendo situation and they have every right to do what they did. I will always support Nintendo. I do hope maybe one day they’ll be a little bit more open minded about fans that are in the [sex work] industry. I’ve been nothing but wanting to love and support the company and I would never want to tarnish my childhood happiness.
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