Nintendo Suspends Shipments To Russia, Citing "Logistics"

Nintendo will not ship products to Russia for the "foreseeable future," citing logistics as the reason and making no mention of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement to Eurogamer, Nintendo confirmed it has stopped the shipping and distribution of physical goods in the region. The statement refers to "volatility" in regards to distribution but makes no direct reference to the ongoing war in the region.

"We have decided to suspend shipping all Nintendo products to Russia for the foreseeable future," a Nintendo spokesperson said. "This is due to considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods."

In addition, Nintendo eShop sales in the region are also on hold, with the shop currently under maintenance "following the suspension of transactions in Russian rubles by the payment provider."

At a time when numerous other video game companies--and companies around the world in general--have stopped selling their goods and services in Russia explicitly in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine, Nintendo instead citing "logistics" as its primary reason for temporarily suspending shipments and sales in the region is not a particularly good look.

Microsoft called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful" in its statement announcing the suspension of new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia. PlayStation, similarly, called for "peace in Ukraine" alongside its announcement that all physical software and hardware sales, as well as sales via the PlayStation Store, have been temporarily suspended in Russia.

Nintendo recently announced it would be indefinitely delaying the upcoming Switch exclusive Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, originally slated to arrive on April 8. In its statement delaying the turned-based strategy title, Nintendo makes no direct mention of Russia or Ukraine but instead only refers to "recent world events" as the reason for the delay.