Nintendo eShop Suspends Service In Russia, Enters "Maintenance Mode"

Right now, the Nintendo eShop is not working in Russia owing to the temporary suspension of its services in the country, however Nintendo itself is yet to comment on the current invasion of Ukraine.

“Due to the fact that the payment service used in [the] Nintendo eShop has suspended the processing of payments in rubles, [the] Nintendo eShop in Russia is temporarily placed into maintenance mode," read the statement on the official Russian support website for the eShop (thanks to Nintendo Life for the translation). "We apologise for any inconvenience caused. We will share updates as the situation develops."

As aforementioned, Nintendo has not responded to the crisis in Eastern Europe in an official capacity at the moment, yet a number of other companies in the industry have taken action against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. 11 Bit Studios, the developer of the acclaimed This War of Mine, has raised more than £500,000 for the Ukrainian Red Cross through sales of the game, and Riot Games will be giving $1 million to three humanitarian organisations working to support those affected in Ukraine and neighbouring areas. Additionally, Electronic Arts announced that Russian teams will be removed from NHL 22, FIFA 22, FIFA Online and FIFA Mobile and DICE removed the latest cosmetic for the Mi-240 Super Hind Russian attack helicopter from Battlefield 2042 as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Ukraine's deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov pleaded for video game companies and esports groups to contribute to sanctions and do "everything possible to protect Ukraine, Europe and finally the entire democratic world from bloody authoritarian aggression" coming out of Russia. "I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus," continued Fedorov. "We are sure that such actions will motivate the citizens of Russia to proactively stop the disgraceful military aggression."

There have been anti-war protests from the Russian public justice and thousands of citizens have been detained for their demonstrations condemning the president's invasion of Ukraine. "You may be scared, but to submit to this fear is to side with fascists and murderers. Putin has already snatched away from Russia its economy, relations with the world and hope for a future," said Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, anti-corruption activist and critic of Putin's government.