Nintendo eShop closing down in Russia, limited to only re-download pre-owned titles

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Russian customers that have been using the Nintendo eShop for their gaming needs won't be able to make any new purchases or transactions using the service, beginning on May 31st, 2023.

Nintendo of Europe started sending emails to publishers, to which some websites like Game Developer caught upon. In said email, Nintendo mentions an overall halt in sales for Russia through their eShop service. This isn't the first time Nintendo does something like this on Russian territory, as last year Nintendo stopped product shipments to the country. With the current cease of sales in the eShop, Russian customers will only be able to redownload already owned titles from the eShop, but they won't be able to make any new purchases. Nintendo will also delete all kinds of payment information from Russian customers that have a Nintendo Account (like credit card and PayPal information) for privacy reasons.

Excerpt from Nintendo of Europe's email to publishers said:
As a result of the economic outlook, Nintendo of Europe has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary. As part of our efforts to honor preceding commitments to our customers in the Russian market, the Russian version of Nintendo eShop will be set to offer limited service.

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 Nintendo eShop in Russia.

While Nintendo cites the "economic outlook" as the reason for the closure of the eShop, it's almost certain it is tied or a consequence to the current on going conflict in which Russia is involved. It could also be related to the fact that Russia made piracy legal in the country since March, 2022, after several gaming (and other) companies started making sanctions effective for the region.

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JeepX87

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I remember about Russian hackers stole my Rockstar account that has several PC games, so I had to fight to get my account back and it wasn't easy at all, and I enabled the 2FA after that incident.
 

Marc_LFD

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I remember about Russian hackers stole my Rockstar account that has several PC games, so I had to fight to get my account back and it wasn't easy at all, and I enabled the 2FA after that incident.
Man, Rockstar Launcher reminds me of that time they gave away GTA SA for free and I still refused to make an account. 😂

I'm tired of how many launchers exist now. It's almost as bad as the streaming services (it was meant to be an all-in-one, a streaming service where it united all), but now there's so many I lost count.

And Netflix sucks now. 😆
 

hertzian56

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Eh both leaders part of the same mischpucka mafia, this just a grinding down the nonchosen really, war profiteering, money laundering, social transformation and revolution and etc Likely the real story won't get out for decades and no wikipedia is not the arbiter of truth either. Maybe play the role of a new sarajevo or pearl harbor when they've decided the next step in totalitarianism needs to happen in all countries. Got a taste of that starting on 3-11-2020 and other x-11-xx dates btw
 
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JeepX87

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Ugh, we aren't supposed to get too political, outside of World News, Current Events & Politics.

The issues with widespread homeless in the US are limited to certain cities, especially Californian big cities, NYC, Chicago, Philly, Phoenix and several others due to housing shortage, lack of affordable housing, lack of treatment centers (for drug addicts) and lack of mental health centers, so some of them are constrained by court orders. That isn't democrat or republican issues, but there is lacking of reconciliation with many different politicians with different priorities that left some systems in our country as broken. The US isn't only one country that see a lot of conflicts with politicians, it does happen to many other countries, even Israel too.

The US debt issues are associated with tax law changes in 1980s, heavily rely on outsourcing to other countries to save money and lower the inflation to minimum, mortgage subprime, several recessions, especially 2008 recession and Covid recession that left the US with explosive of debt that can be controlled if there are all politicians along to resolve the issues.

The US court system needs to be reformed to keep distance from politics, so politicians wouldn't fight over court anymore.

It is a lot of complication to explain about issues with our country, so it would result in very long post, so I decided to cut off after few paragraphs.

It is up to voters to find someone know to take care of those issues, but sadly, some voters don't see those as issues.

Man, Rockstar Launcher reminds me of that time they gave away GTA SA for free and I still refused to make an account. 😂

I'm tired of how many launchers exist now. It's almost as bad as the streaming services (it was meant to be an all-in-one, a streaming service where it united all), but now there's so many I lost count.

And Netflix sucks now. 😆
I bought Steam version of GTA V and RDR II with my money but Rockstar forced me to use their launcher.
 
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Xzi

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Likely the real story won't get out for decades
The real story isn't at all complicated: Russia started invading Ukraine in 2014, this was just phase two. It's been a miserable failure for Russia's military, but Putin got what he wanted by terrorizing and murdering millions of innocent civilians. Anybody still supporting him and his objectives can burn in hell, literally or metaphorically, preferably sooner rather than later.
 

Marc_LFD

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The real story isn't at all complicated: Russia started invading Ukraine in 2014, this was just phase two. It's been a miserable failure for Russia's military, but Putin got what he wanted by terrorizing and murdering millions of innocent civilians. Anybody still supporting him and his objectives can burn in hell, literally or metaphorically, preferably sooner rather than later.
What. 😑

Ukraine was at war with the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Azov.

 
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Foxi4

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The real story isn't at all complicated: Russia started invading Ukraine in 2014, this was just phase two. It's been a miserable failure for Russia's military, but Putin got what he wanted by terrorizing and murdering millions of innocent civilians. Anybody still supporting him and his objectives can burn in hell, literally or metaphorically, preferably sooner rather than later.
To be fair, the man campaigned on the idea of restoring great Mother Russia, presumably understood as the U.S.S.R. format of it, with cronyism replacing communism. That’s a weird goal considering the fact that outside of territorial gains the whole venture bankrupted the country and folded faster than a house of cards at the first sign of weakness, but he can certainly have aspirations. The problem here is that the entire Russian Federation has a GDP smaller than the state of Texas - anyone under the mistaken impression that they’re a worthy adversary needs to look at the math side of things. There’s only so long Russia can throw cannon fodder dressed in cardboard body armor at the problem - this strategy doesn’t work in the 21st century. Eventually the behemoth will simply starve itself to death, which would be a preferable solution compared to full-scale war.
 
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Foxi4

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What. 😑

Ukraine was at war with the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Azov.
Uh-huh - and good guy Russia steps in to “denazify”, yes? I heard that one before - right before the occupation of Poland. No thanks, they can go back home, Ukraine can deal with its own internal problems, they don’t need Daddy Putin to lend a hand.
 

mrdude

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What. 😑

Ukraine was at war with the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Azov.


You have to laugh at the MSN calling the Ukranian Azov group white supremacists when the popultion is mostly white. What's next - will they be calling some Ugandan militia black supremacists?

This is the trouble with the MSM - they are always trying to push an agenda.
 
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Xzi

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What. 😑

Ukraine was at war with the Ukrainian Neo-Nazis Azov.


Are we now pretending the Kremlin hasn't been funding and supporting any/all separatist movements within Ukraine that aligned with their goals? When I play make-believe, my go to scenario isn't usually attempting to justify mass war crimes.

"De-nazifying" Russia at this point would mean assassinating Putin and his entire regime. That's still not a valid excuse for the US to invade, now is it?
 
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Gronbar

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Nintendo in like 3 days, “Why piracy so high in Russia? ;O;”
It's high anyway whoever will do anything, if those people doesn't care about life and freedom then why they will care about intellectual property?
Post automatically merged:

It's high anyway whoever will do anything, if those people doesn't care about life and freedom then why they will care about intellectual property?
Also hope Nintendo will open Polish Department to show how they feel solidarity with Polish people and that will be their "present" for us.
 

eyeliner

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A huge number of Russian financial institutions have been banned from SWIFT, of course the outlook is bleak. I’m surprised they kept it operating for this long as it is.
Prepaid codes went a long way, it seems.
 

Foxi4

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Prepaid codes went a long way, it seems.
I personally have a Russian buddy who has huge issues with online storefronts and has to rely on exact game codes because he effectively has no means of topping up his accounts despite having the money. Even pre-paid cards are an issue since on many storefronts they’re not currency-agnostic. It’s a huge problem affecting both business and regular people. Of course the Kremlin is downplaying such disruptions, but it is what it is.
 
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Tac 21

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welll this is fuckin stupid.

only gonna INCREASE piracy in that region...

what did Gabe say about service issues...
 

Xzi

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welll this is fuckin stupid.

only gonna INCREASE piracy in that region...

what did Gabe say about service issues...
True, but Russia's an exception. They pirate all the Steam games they can too. The service can't possibly be good enough when your dictator is vacuuming up everybody's entertainment budget for himself.
 

Foxi4

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welll this is fuckin stupid.

only gonna INCREASE piracy in that region...

what did Gabe say about service issues...
Oh, you don’t understand - it’s not that customers don’t want to make purchases, it’s because often times they just *can’t* due to economic sanctions. This has nothing to do with piracy, it’s a cost/benefit analysis move.
 

JeepX87

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Hey all, don't forget to secure your accounts that have digital games, including set the 2FA as soon as possible.

Don't let Russian hackers take your accounts.
 
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TomSwitch

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Excuse to betray customers shouldn't be tolerated no matter who it is targeted at.

Crime committed to punish law-abiding civilians.

Also hate crime against minority. It's a BS political move.

Post automatically merged:

i wonder if piracy will go up :O
You mean how many law-abiding civilians will now stop playing Switch games?

I think they won't, they will just migrate to US and then start buying game again. It's a free to buy game country.
 
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