Nintendo Shuts Down eShop Services In Russia After A Year’s Suspension

Nintendo has decided to shut down its eShop services in Russia. This comes in the wake of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine which started over a year ago in February 2022. Last year in February, Nintendo had already “stopped shipping products to the country and had put the eShop services under maintenance” stopping the processing of transactions made in rubles. The decision comes into effect from 31st May 2023. Nintendo informed publishers of its decision through an email.

The email screenshot was uploaded on the Russian social media website DTF.ru. The email also states that Nintendo will further reduce investments in its Russian subsidiary to eventually exit the market altogether. The cessation of eShop services means that the Nintendo player in the territory of the Russian Federation will no longer be able to make new purchases or download games using download codes.

However, Russian Nintendo customers will be able to re-download the already purchased digital content. This will only be valid for already existing Nintendo accounts. Nintendo stated that the credit card and Pay Pal details, including other types of payment details, linked with Nintendo accounts based in Russia will also be deleted for unspecified “security reasons.” The email further read,

As of May 31, 2023, and for the foreseeable future, Russian customers with an existing Nintendo Account will be able to redownload digital content that they have previously purchased. It will not be possible to make any new purchases or use download codes within [the] Nintendo eShop in Russia.”

The Russian Nintendo aficionados were not surprised by this decision. They believed it was a long time coming. To some things were a lot worse a year ago when they could not even download pre-bought games from the eShops. And as expected of the Russian gaming community, they already have loopholes around the ban whereby they can enjoy the full services of the eShop with a mere change of the region.

This is not the first time a major company has closed down its services in Russia. Companies like Microsoft, Mojang, EA, and Sony have stopped selling their products in the region. Just 2 months ago in April, Sony pulled Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores from the Russian PlayStation Store.