It seems that Nintendo games can return to Russia only thanks to a company not officially associated with the Japanese (but managed by the president of the Russian branch of the company).
Nintendo was one of the many giants in the video game industry that pulled out of Russia due to sanctions. However, the case of the Russian importer of Big N products casts a strange light on the company’s exit from Russia.
According to Eurogamer, the Russian website Kommersant reported that it is planned to provide gamers in Russia with Nintendo games and equipment. This can be considered as another example of the practice of importing products without the consent of the manufacturer.
There is only one “but” – the founder is Yasha Haddazhi, who formally remains the CEO of Nintendo Russia. Moreover, the company was registered at the same address as the headquarters of the Russian branch of Nintendo.
Lots of questions and ambiguous answers
Questions soon arose as to whether Nintendo was aware of Haddaji’s plans. However, only Eurogamer managed to get a statement from the company about this, albeit a very ambiguous one.
- Nintendo said it continues to freeze its activities in Russia and seeks to completely withdraw from the country.
- Contracts with local workers were terminated “by mutual agreement” (and with “evaluation of their efforts”).
- At the same time, it is emphasized that the company is not associated with “companies engaged in parallel import of goods, including Nintendo products.”
However, in the same message, Nintendo indicated that it wants to fulfill its obligations to Russian buyers. To this end, negotiations are underway with more than a dozen companies, including Haddaji. It is also not specified if he is still the CEO of Nintendo in Russia.
True, we are only talking about benefits for “products already sold in Russia”, i.e. service covered by the warranty.