Nintendo Suspend Sales in Russia Amid Invasion of Ukraine

Less than a week removed from Xbox, PlayStation, Electronic Arts and plenty of other names in the gaming world taking steps to stop sales in Russia, it appears Nintendo is taking a similar course of action as well.

According to a report by IGN, the Japanese multinational video game company has suspended all shipments to Russia for the "foreseeable future" mainly as a business move, stopping short of offering public support for Ukraine.

"We would like to express our concern for all those affected by the conflict," a Nintendo spokesperson reportedly told IGN.

IGN reports that Nintendo said in a statement that its move to suspend sales in Russia was motivated by the "rapidly changing circumstances around exporting and selling its products" there.

On Wednesday, Nintendo announced that they had delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp indefinitely "in light of recent world events."

Last week, it was confirmed by a Nintendo Russia support page that all digital purchases had been suspended on the Russian Nintendo eShop and that it had been placed in maintenance mode due to an issue with the payment service being used.

"Due to the fact that the payment service used in Nintendo eShop has suspended the processing of payments in rubles," a Google-translated version of the message reads, "Nintendo eShop in Russia is temporarily placed into maintenance mode. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. We will share updates as the situation develops."

On March 4, Microsoft President Brad Smith didn't outright mention Xbox by name but announced in a blog post that the company has suspended all new sales of its products and services in Russia.

"Like the rest of the world," Smith said in the post, "we are horrified, angered and saddened by the images and news coming from the war in Ukraine and condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion by Russia."

After initially pulling the Russian release of Gran Turismo 7 unannounced, Sony formally made an announcement about the decision Tuesday, adding that they have suspended all software and hardware shipments, as well as operations of the PlayStation Store in Russia.

"Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) joins the global community in calling for peace in Ukraine," the PlayStation statement reads.