Nintendo Blocks Foreign Payments on Japanese eShop, Making Digital Imports Harder

Buying games from the Japanese eShop as a foreigner without a Japanese bank account is about to get a lot harder. Today, Nintendo announced it will no longer accept “credit cards issued overseas” and “PayPal accounts opened overseas” from January 25, 2025. Nintendo said it took the decision to curb “fraudulent use.”

Western Nintendo Switch owners have for years now created regional Nintendo accounts to capitalize on cheaper prices or wider availability of titles that are not in their home region. This change creates a larger barrier for anyone residing outside of Japan to buy games at the store.

There are several Japan-only Switch titles that players abroad will no longer be able to access, including Tactics title Nobunaga’s Ambition: Sphere of Influence, Mecha mashup titles Super Robot Wars T and V, a Yo-Kai Watch remake, and most notably Mother 3, which remains a Japan exclusive for Nintendo Switch Online.

What is curious is that this change only affects the Japanese eShop, so users of the American and European eShop will still be able to make purchases across those respective regions.

You’ll still be able to use physical Nintendo Switch cartridges from Japan as the system is not region-locked. So, unless you are looking to buy an eShop title that is download-only, you can still play Japanese games on your Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo is of course about to focus on the upcoming Switch 2, which will be detailed in an April Direct.

Sayem is a freelancer based in the UK, covering tech & hardware. You can get in touch with him at @sayem.zone on Bluesky.