Nintendo confirmed to Eurogamer that it has suspended product shipments to Russia. A spokesperson from the company cited “volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods” as a reason for the suspension. It has also essentially disabled the Nintendo eShop in Russia by putting it in a state of maintenance. [Thanks, Eurogamer.]
The Japanese outlet Game Watch also learned Nintendo has had the Russian eShop in a state of maintenance since March 4, 2022. The article added that the payment provider’s suspension of transactions in Russian rubles led to the de facto eShop shutdown in the country.
Nintendo has yet to publish an official statement about the suspension on its websites and social media accounts. As of this writing, the most recent corporate update on March 9, 2022 indicated that the company will release its financial report for the 2022 fiscal year on May 10, 2022.
However, the war has directly affected the release of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp in North America and Europe. Nintendo delayed the game from its originally slated release on April 8, 2022 due to the conflict. It will provide a new release date for the title at a later time.
With this announcement, all major game console publishers have halted product shipments to Russia. On March 4, 2022, Microsoft announced that it would suspend sales of its products and services, including Xbox consoles. Shortly before the March 2022 State of Play, Sony also announced the suspension of PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games and systems in the country.
The Nintendo Switch, released in March 2017, has surpassed 100 million units sold worldwide as of December 31, 2021.
