Nintendo Heads To German Courts Over “Unlawful” eShop Practices

Germany has filed a lawsuit against Nintendo over having “unlawful” consumer practices – specifically, the fact that the eShop does not allow pre-order cancellation at all. [Thanks, Fawesum on Reddit!]

The issue first arose when Norway tested the eShop for consumer unfriendly practices, and accused Nintendo of doing so by not allowing pre-order cancellation. Nintendo responded back saying that they aren’t breaking any laws, because pre-loading the game after pre-ordering fulfills the “performance has begun” wording of the sales contract.

This time, Germany via the German Consumer Authorities has looked at more recent info, and sided with Norway against Nintendo, especially as Nintendo hasn’t changed anything. The whole court process is likely to take an entire year, and begins in the next 3-4 weeks.

If this issue continues to escalate, bringing it to EU courts may be required in order to update the definition of “performance has begun”.