Last year, Nintendo put its eShop in "maintenance mode" in Russia, which prevented access to the eShop for customers in the country. Now, the company is making it official: Nintendo is halting all sales in Russia.
Nintendo of Europe announced that as of May 31st, 2023, the company will halt all new eShop sales in Russia. This means that you won’t be able to make any new purchases from the store or redeem digital codes. Nintendo says all credit card information and PayPal details will be deleted for security reasons and that you won’t be able to create new Nintendo Accounts as long as Russia is set as the country.
The good news is users with a Russian eShop account will still be able to download previously-purchased games and DLC "for the foreseeable future." It’s unclear at this time how long Nintendo plans on keeping the eShop available for these users.
"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."
We’ve reached out to Nintendo for additional comment and will update this story when we’ve heard back.
Both Microsoft and Sony halted all sales from Russia over a year ago as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Game studios such as Epic, Activision Blizzard and EA made similar moves and halted sales in the country at around the same time. Nintendo joining the mix means that no major console makers currently allow its Russian users to purchase new games in the country.
