Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland and PioPow are being recalled by Limited Run Games over an alleged manufacturing error that may compromise both the game carts and the original NES consoles.

After an initial report (via Time Extension), Limited Run Games found that these cartridges possess a voltage regulation fault that could result in irreparable damage if played for a prolonged amount of time.

Limited Run Games then took action by ceasing further shipments of the damaged games while confirming they will be collaborating with a different, reputable manufacturer to offer safe and new cartridges.

In an effort to avoid any damage to their systems, customers who have already received the defective cartridges immediately get replacements and are advised against using the current versions. Refunds are also being given to those who request them.

Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland has been available since September 2024 for Windows PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PS4, and PS5. Get our review for the game! PioPow has also been available for the NES, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5.

Here’s the full word from Limited Run Games:

Good Afternoon,

We were recently made aware of reports circulating, speaking to a potential issue when using select NES games which Limited Run Games have previously retailed on our website.

The reports make mention of two titles: Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland and PioPow. Upon learning about this issue from our community, we immediately began investigating and can confirm that due to an issue with voltage regulation, there is a small chance that prolonged use of these titles could result in damage to either the cartridge or the console hardware.

We have identified that these titles were not manufactured by our regular partner who we have worked with across 30+ titles and who we trust implicitly thanks to their impeccable manufacturing track record. The manufacturer who produced Rugrats and PioPow has only worked on a very small handful of titles for Limited Run Games and right now, we are going through our back catalogue of NES titles manufactured by this supplier and testing for possible issues. While we conduct further testing, our immediate pledge is to rectify the potential issue with Rugrats and PioPow and ensure that this will not happen again.

We are committed to delivering high-quality products and never want to leave our customers with anything short of the best.

These titles are no longer available to purchase, however we are currently in the process of fulfilling back orders for both Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland and PioPow. Starting immediately, we will not be sending out any unfilled orders for either of these titles to customers who have previously pre-ordered. Instead we are re-manufacturing these titles ourselves via our trusted manufacturing partner. For Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland, this pertains to both the Standard and Collector’s Edition of the title. Those who pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition will be contacted in advance and will be offered the choice of receiving their order with the NES cart removed which will then follow upon re-manufacture, or should they wish to maintain the manufacturer’s seal, we can instead wait until the cartridge is re-manufactured and included in the Collector’s Edition before shipping. Sadly, this will result in a delay while we re-manufacture cartridges for these titles, and for this we humbly apologise.

Those who do not wish to wait for either title to be re-manufactured will be welcome to a full refund and we ask that customers contact Customer Service immediately should they wish for a refund to be processed. Those who have already pre-ordered either title will be sent a newly manufactured version of their title automatically, there is no need to contact Customer Service.

For those who have already pre-ordered and received their cartridge: we do not recommend continuing using their game, however there is no need to return the game to us. We will automatically be sending out a revised version to each and every customer as soon as possible. We will update all customers on expected delivery dates as soon as we have them and kindly ask for your patience as we work our way through this issue.

We are extremely sorry for any inconvenience these issues have caused and moving forward, we will not be distributing any original cartridge sourced by this manufacturer.