On May 4, 2022, citing logistics problems resulting from EU sanctions against the Russian Federation, the Japanese company Nintendo announced the suspension of supplies of its products to the Russian Federation.
Due to the instability of the ruble exchange rate, the online store of special software for Nintendo eShop consoles stopped selling its products to users located in Russia, thereby depriving millions of its customers of the opportunity to purchase new games.
Cunning Japanese businessmen, when announcing the blocking of the store, apparently did not take into account the fact that almost all of their clients in the Russian Federation are originally Russian people, accustomed to living under economic restrictions and who have long learned to easily and naturally bypass any hardships.
Below we will look at all the possible options for bypassing geopolitical blocking and continue to play our favorite games without paying attention to the pathetic attempts to restrict us again.
What you can’t do exactly
Nintendo eShop introduced a “maintenance” mode on its site, due to which almost all of the store’s functionality was out of reach for Russian customers. In addition to the fact that the store no longer accepts plastic cards from Russia and payments in rubles, all content of the store, including free games and demo versions, has become completely unavailable to Russian users. The sale of subscriptions in the Russian Federation is also suspended.
It is no longer possible to enter the store directly from the console. When I try to purchase a game, the system consistently generates an error, informing me that purchasing content from this region is temporarily impossible.
In addition, the releases of some long-awaited games in Russia, such as Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp, Chocobo GP, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, have been postponed.
And the most unpleasant thing in this whole situation is that users were actually prohibited from downloading games they had previously purchased from the service.
Now, in order to gain access to Nintendo Switch games, you need to take some simple steps, which we will discuss below.
How to regain access to games on Nintendo Switch consoles
Despite all the tricks of the Nintendo eShop and restrictions on sales, there is no need to despair. There are real ways to bypass the block and play your favorite games as before.
How to bypass the Nintendo eShop ban
The easiest and fastest way to access all your games is not to store them on eShop servers, but to download them directly to your SD cards and hard drives. Unfortunately, this method is not currently available to Russian users, but it can greatly make their lives easier in the future.
An effective way to bypass blocking is to install a VPN. Although, in the case of Nintendo Switch, this method does not solve all access problems, it is also very useful in conditions of geopolitical blocking.
The third method (the most effective and trouble-free) is to change the region in your Nintendo eShop account.
Let’s look at each method in more detail:
Download purchased games to your hard drive
The basic algorithm for downloading games from Nintendo eShop to your hard drive is quite simple. After registering in the eShop store and linking your account to your console, you can begin selecting and downloading any of the games presented in the store to your SD card. The number of games installed on the console at the same time is limited only by the capacity of removable media, SD card, or hard drive, which, as you know, can never be too much.
In our store, you will find a huge range of hard drives and memory cards for any purpose, any size, and for every taste.
Games purchased on Nintendo eShop are linked to your account and can be downloaded and deleted from your Nintendo Switch console countless times, provided that access to the server is not restricted or blocked.
Installing VPN for Nintendo Switch consoles
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a system designed to encrypt Internet traffic, hiding the user’s real IP and his location from verification algorithms.
This allows the VPN user to remain anonymous, protect their data from hacker attacks, remove speed restrictions from the provider, or bypass geopolitical blocking, just like what is happening everywhere now due to sanctions.
Despite the prevalence of VPN services among Internet users, the Nintendo Switch game console does not provide the possibility of such an upgrade. However, all is not lost! And, if you cannot install a VPN in the console itself, you can always install it in the router. Thus, bypassing some eShop restrictions such as delayed game releases, and gaining access to regional content.
To install a VPN program on a router, you need to make sure that the router supports this feature. To do this you need:
- Go to the router settings as indicated in the instructions (usually using addresses 92.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1).
- Find the VPN client tab in the router menu.
- Set up the router according to the instructions from the VPN service (enter the address of the selected server, login, and password in the special field)
- Restart the router.
IMPORTANT: The VPN client function is not always built into the router firmware. If the router does not have such a function, you may need to re-flash the gadget or purchase another router with additional functionality already built into it.
In the case of the Nintendo Switch, installing a VPN service on the router will open access to previously blocked content, but this measure cannot completely solve the problem of store blocking.
In order to download previously purchased games and buy new ones, the user will still have to go to the Nintendo website and change the region in which they are located.
Create an account in another region
One of the fastest and most common ways to regain access to the store is to change the region in your eShop account. The only way this method may not work is if the user has a connected Nintendo Switch Online subscription with auto-renewal.
Today, you can disable such a subscription only by contacting technical support through a special form on the Nintendo.ru website or by writing them an email and waiting for a response.
After deactivating your subscription you need to:
- Log in to your account at accounts.nintendo. com
- Select “User Information”
- Click the “Change” button opposite the “Profile” item
- In the drop-down list, select any of the EU countries, Poland or South Africa.
- Save changes.
- Re-login to your Nintendo Switch account and confirm your details.
- Download previously purchased games to your hard drive or flash card.
IMPORTANT: Gold points do not expire when changing the region, however, they are not transferred to the new region, remaining in the Russian Federation. In this case, the vouchers remain available to the user and can be used for payment.
How to buy games and pay for subscriptions after Nintendo eShop is blocked
Technical support for the Nintendo eShop store states that the Qiwi payment service continues to function fully, using it you can top up your Nintendo eShop account and continue to use the service as usual. However, a simple test shows that it doesn’t work that way.
The most reliable way is to buy cartridges in a store
One of the best options for keeping all your purchases available is purchasing games on game cards and cartridges. Such games have several undeniable advantages:
- They can be shared, changed,
- They can be collected
- Store in a special case and take out as needed,
- They need much less space on a flash drive than downloaded games,
- They are often equipped with collectible items, stickers, music, figurines, etc.
- No one will ever be able to take away such games from a user without his knowledge or by suddenly blocking access to them.
A large assortment of game cartridges for Nintendo Switch is presented on our IgroRai website. Come in, choose, and play without restrictions.
Buy Games for Nintendo Switch with maximum benefit
Only in the online store, by placing an order now, you get the opportunity to buy games for Nintendo Switch at a discount today.
They offer the lowest prices, and with cashback from an online store, your purchase will become even more profitable.
Our qualified specialists will be happy to advise you on all your questions and assist you in your choice.
You can place an order for products in our online store with delivery throughout Moscow and all of Russia (RF), and you can also pick up the order yourself from a store in Moscow.
