Nintendo Switch eShop and online services are ending in China on March 31, 2026. All software will no longer be available to purchase or claim. May 15, 2026 - players will no longer be available to download titles/redeem codes. www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintend... - ThreadSky

wario64.bsky.social • 103 days ago

Nintendo Switch eShop and online services are ending in China on March 31, 2026. All software will no longer be available to purchase or claim.

May 15, 2026 - players will no longer be available to download titles/redeem codes.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-switch-eshop-and-online-services-are-ending-in-china-in-2026/

Comments

otherion.bsky.social•103 days ago

Huh... I guess it's a way to force transitioning to the switch 2?

vinnaleixofm.xyz•103 days ago

yes. the usual since the wii to wii U

otherion.bsky.social•103 days ago

But it's interesting that it is a Chinese only thing, maybe to Nintendo it's the only country where they could do this without much public pressure

vinnaleixofm.xyz•103 days ago

but this one will give an idea on what ninty is about to do for the rest of the world

tubazef.com•103 days ago

Sounds like a China specific thing rather than a Nintendo thing, I wouldn't read too much into it

otherion.bsky.social•103 days ago

Yeah after thinking it through, it's just a tencent thing

vinnaleixofm.xyz•103 days ago

their console market overall is still on babysteps

bwillettcomics.bsky.social•103 days ago

Except Ninty already announced Nintendo Online will be continuous on the Switch 2 (at least in the West). I wonder if this is specifically a Chinese government thing for some reason

otherion.bsky.social•103 days ago

After thinking it through... I think the most plausible answer is the most boring one, and that's that simply the collaboration with tencent just ended and they didn't wish to continue with it for boring reasons

bwillettcomics.bsky.social•103 days ago

That does sound the most realistic

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Tencent games sold poorly. Due to CPC delays lots of games came months to even years late. I think the longest was 2 years. So the average Chinese store just imported games from other regions. When the official version finally came out almost no one bought it

uroboloss.bsky.social•103 days ago

Tencent provides the service in China instead of Nintendo doing it directly, but they won't be doing it anymore so the service will be shut down

pepepineda95.bsky.social•103 days ago

Wtffff

wario64.bsky.social•103 days ago

Starting Nov 27, 2024, players with a Chinese Switch and an active WeChat account can receive up to 4 Switch games for free

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

"and an active WeChat account"

Hooboy that's a lot of free games

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Oh most own the tencent switch. Not a lot of free games. Just about everyone i know has an HK, JP, or EU switch.

crystarius.bsky.social•103 days ago

They'd never do it, but it'd be nice if they did this when the next console comes out. As an incentive to move from 1 to 2, since they're backwards compatible anyways...

nshade666.bsky.social•103 days ago

It would be better if they just kept the same shop(just renovated it a tad to help organize it and make a tab which notifies which games are switch or switch 2 only

lunarrose.bsky.social•103 days ago

The shop needs A new look. Also they need to do something about all the half ass shovelwear and hentai games that clutter the store.

nshade666.bsky.social•103 days ago

Looks at steam(most successful pc storefront)yeah that’s not gonna happen as long as a platform is successful there will be get rich quick types on it.As far as “hentai” everyones got their thing and most deserve representation on there even them.

nshade666.bsky.social•103 days ago

My wife is an otome game lover through and through and is occasionally disappointed those games don’t push the envelope more.I am okay with the risqué,but ultimately can take it or leave it if the gameplay is good but i do believe in respecting the creators intent and vision

crystarius.bsky.social•103 days ago

Keeping the same shop and getting free games are not mutually exclusive events

nshade666.bsky.social•103 days ago

No,but shutting it down in one market (especially a potential large one) is usually a bad sign for the fate of the others

crystarius.bsky.social•103 days ago

China is a unique market, especially when it came to the Switch. Chinese Switch release and operation was handled by Tencent, so it's a completely different set of factors. Most dedicated Chinese players use HK, Japanese, and other foreign Switches anyways

homebrewgt.bsky.social•103 days ago

We can't keep that so shop. It's garbage. Wii U eshop was so much better

nshade666.bsky.social•103 days ago

Mainly because the wiiu wasn’t successful,successful hardware always means a glut of garbage software and online digital storefronts usually make that worse.

1juugo.bsky.social•103 days ago

wow

chipklip.bsky.social•103 days ago

Normally I’m against this stuff shutting down anywhere but the eshop is full of hentai games, which is a little out of character for Nintendo

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

The Chinese one, last i checked, had 20 games. None of which were hentai ones but big publishers finally getting official Chinese releases.

chipklip.bsky.social•103 days ago

Okay that’s interesting. I still hope they scrub the other switch shop though unlikely

tbaggingsince1990.bsky.social•103 days ago

This is why physical games will always be superior.

natepham01.bsky.social•103 days ago

And modchips

totomeister.bsky.social•103 days ago

It's over Chinabros 😞

tannerofthenorth.bsky.social•103 days ago

no it's not, we just get our games from Hong Kong anyways. That's still fully supported lmao

totomeister.bsky.social•103 days ago

Oh nice lmao

trewdomko.bsky.social•103 days ago

What happened?? Also yeah China gonna see a larger increase of pirating now cause of it

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Most people here don't own the tencent model and lots of stores don't care official published games.
Like Luigi's mansion 2 is officially published but I picked up an ESRB copy here. My BotW is a Taiwanese copy and my Mario Tennis is an Aus copy

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Since officially licensed games are actually region locked they tend to rot on shelves due to returns. Even I'll pop a game in my switch at the store to make sure it runs. If it doesn't they get me another copy

trewdomko.bsky.social•103 days ago

Oh officially licensed games are region locked?? I thought the switch wasn't region locked?

tannerofthenorth.bsky.social•103 days ago

Tencent Switch (Mainland) is.

That's why no one bought it. Hong Kong / Japanese are unblocked fully.

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

It's actually not. It is just the only model that can play mainland games. Only the games are region locked for some weird reason.
My copy of Mario party i brought from the US worked in my friend's tencent switch.

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Just the officially licensed games are. Tencent model can play every region of game though. It's technically the best model but when you boot it up it's in Mandarin. I'm unsure if it can go to other regional eshops

tannerofthenorth.bsky.social•103 days ago

It cannot, it's locked to mainland.

chipklip.bsky.social•103 days ago

Tencent switch?

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Tencent published the switch in China and it can't access other regions' eShop and it's the only one that can play Chinese switch games. It can play every other regions' games.

trewdomko.bsky.social•103 days ago

Ahhh gotcha, that makes sense, forgot that the Switch wasn't region locked lol

elvenmonk.bsky.social•103 days ago

Only the tencent model is. It can play every region But the localized games can only be played on it. Which is why the official copies don't do well because it launched during the pandemic here. After a majority of people in china already owned a switch.

robertman2.bsky.social•103 days ago

Most people with Switches in China have ones from other regions, rather than the Tencent one.

kennedytouchdown.bsky.social•103 days ago

everyone who literally thought the switch was going to last another 7 years owes me $100. I literally knew when nvidia discontinued the chipset, we were entering the final years of the switch. some of y'all literally said "nintendo doesn't need to make another system" I win bitch 😎

nikkistylix.bsky.social•103 days ago

I fucking shit myself reading those first eight words

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