Nintendo’s eShop is currently unavailable in Russia

By Otto Kratky Published March 7, 2022

Nintendo’s eShop is currently down in Russia, following a decision made by the payment service used by the company to stop accepting Russia’s currency, Rubles.

According to the Russian Nintendo eShop page, the eShop is currently in “maintenance mode.” It doesn’t seem like the decision to shut down its eShop in Russia was made by Nintendo however, but rather by another company that handles the shop’s transactions. Nintendo has notably kept quiet regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, whereas its peers in the game industry have openly taken measures to limit or entirely halt the sales of their products in Russia.

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It’s not clear when the Nintendo eShop will be brought back online in Russia. Nintendo’s current message on the site apologizes to users and promises that the company “will share updates as the situation develops.” However, it’s up in the air whether or not Nintendo will be able to change the decision of another company to stop accepting Russia’s currency.

While the decision to disable Nintendo’s eShop in Russia may not have been made by the company itself, it’s yet another action taken against the country for its invasion of Ukraine. Numerous other companies in the game industry have taken extremely public stances against Russia, including two of Nintendo’s main competitors, Microsoft and Sony. The former announced last week that it would be halting the “new” sales of all products and services to users in Russia. Sony, on the other hand, seemingly pulled the release of its latest first-party title, Gran Turismo 7 from Russia, although it didn’t make any official announcement.

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Otto Kratky is a freelance writer with many homes. You can find his work at Digital Trends, GameSpot, and Gamepur. If he's…

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