Nintendo stops selling its products in Russia. The Japanese manufacturer announced this in a press release posted to Eurogamer. Marketing of consoles, games and gifts suspended, While the Nintendo eShop has been made inaccessible in the country.
Kyoto company is not the first to make this decision, many technology players have already withdrawn from the Russian market. However, he was not motivated by the invasion of Ukraine. Officially, for more pragmatic reasons.
Nintendo can no longer deliver to Russia
Eurogamer shares Nintendo’s statement, and that doesn’t mention Ukraine at all, nor war, but just logistical considerations:
“We have made the decision to stop all shipments to Russia in the short term. This is due to the uncertainty surrounding the logistics of shipping and selling physical products.”
Fine, but Nintendo hasn’t just stopped sales of physical consoles and games in the country since then. The eShop is also inaccessible. Big N has a ready explanation for this:
“In addition, the eShop in Russia is currently under maintenance after the suspension of the Russian ruble by payment providers”
In short, Nintendo is temporarily withdrawing from the Russian market, but unlike the others, it does not show its support for Ukraine. This is the second time this week that the manufacturer has carefully avoided addressing the issue. Wednesday, Advance Wars announced that the 1+2 Re-Boot game has been delayed. Camp at an uncertain date and this is due to “recent events” without going into details.
Many publishers, studios, builders and entertainment companies have already stopped their activities in Russia to support Ukraine. Microsoft, Sony, Amazon, Google, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, Netflix, Apple, CD Projekt Red… the list goes on! While these decisions will of course not affect the course of the war, they do contribute to increasingly isolating Russia from the rest of the economic world.
Source: Eurogamer
