Nintendo Japan announced yesterday (Jan 30) on its official website that, to prevent unauthorized use and various forms of misuse, its domestic "Nintendo eShop" and "My Nintendo Store" will no longer support overseas-issued credit cards and international PayPal accounts, effective March 25, 2025.
This move has ignited heated debate among Japanese netizens, who speculate whether Nintendo is trying to curb the anticipated scalping issues for the upcoming "Nintendo Switch 2."
The "Nintendo eShop" is an online store where users can purchase digital download games for the Nintendo Switch, while the "My Nintendo Store" is Nintendo's official online retail website.
This change affects both overseas-issued credit cards and internationally registered PayPal accounts. Players who previously used these payment methods will need to switch to other options in the future. Without a Japan-issued credit card or a Japan-registered PayPal account, purchases will not be possible (even JCB cards issued in Taiwan will be unsupported).
While Nintendo officially stated the policy is based on "preventing unauthorized use," Japanese netizens online are largely divided into two camps regarding the reasons behind it.
Theory 1: Compliance with the Japanese government's mandatory identity verification. In response to online credit card fraud, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) requires online retailers to implement additional identity verification measures, such as biometric authentication, for credit card transactions starting no later than April. However, overseas-issued credit cards may struggle to comply with these new regulations, leading Nintendo to preemptively discontinue support for them.
Theory 2: Anti-scalping and stock-piling measures for Switch 2. Many players believe this could be Nintendo's preparation for the "Nintendo Switch 2," expected to launch later this year. If payment methods are restricted to Japan-issued options, overseas players, even if they register a Japanese account via VPN, would be unable to purchase consoles or games due to payment limitations. This could help prevent scalpers from bulk-buying.
In fact, at the shareholder meeting on June 27, 2024, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa stated that for the launch of Switch 2 (then referred to as the "next-generation Switch"), Nintendo would ensure sufficient production numbers and "take appropriate measures within legal limits, depending on regional circumstances" to address scalping issues.
However, this new measure has also sparked discontent among international players. On X, many have commented, "My country doesn't have an eShop, does this mean we can't buy games anymore?" "Many games are only available on the Japanese eShop, what do we do now?" and "I'm not a scalper, I just want to buy digital games..."
Of course, these are all netizen speculations. Nintendo Japan has only cited "preventing unauthorized use" as the reason. The true rationale may require a clearer statement to be confirmed.
via： 日本任天堂官網