When Russia launched its war against neighboring Ukraine last year, almost all major gaming companies decided to take action against the former. This included Nintendo halting all product shipments to the country (something we reported on), but also saying they would stay in the country for a “forseeable future”.
Last week, Eurogamer discovered that it was still possible to buy Metroid Prime Remastered in Russia through the company Achivka. Although parallel imports are difficult for a company to control, this was curiously started by the head of Nintendo Russia, Yasha Haddazhi. This led to a lot of not too charming attention for Nintendo, who therefore decided to act.
In a statement to Eurogamer Nintendo now declares that they will “discontinue operations” in Russia:
“In early 2022, Nintendo suspended shipping products to Russia, and placed Nintendo eShop under maintenance following the suspension of transactions in Russian rubles by the payment provider. Following this, and as a result of the economic outlook, Nintendo of Europe has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary.
We will maintain a minimal presence in Russia to complete the wind-down process, and to fulfil legal, contractual and administrative requirements. Employees in Moscow received individual compensation packages, and their contracts ended by mutual agreement and with our appreciation for their efforts.”
Nintendo also writes that they have “no involvement in parallel import activities in Russia”. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story to see if it develops further or if Nintendo is serious.
