Nintendo loses court case over eShop pre-order restrictions

There’s a new twist in the long-running saga of Nintendo’s Switch eShop cancellation policy – which has for years been frowned upon by European consumer rights groups.

A German court has overturned a previous judgement made in Nintendo’s favour, and ruled instead on the side of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (VZBV).

The VZBV successfully argued on appeal that Nintendo’s current policy of only letting customers cancel pre-orders up to seven days before a game’s release was unfair – since, before a game’s release, there was no way for a customer to actually test the product, even if it was made available as a download.

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“Nintendo had already offered video games for download in its eShop before the official release date,” reads a summary of the case published on VZBV.de, translated by Nintendo Life. “The download usually included a software-comprehensive ‘pre-load’ of the game as well as an icon displayed on the game console. The unlocking of the game took place via update only on the official start date. Such online purchases can usually be revoked within 14 days without giving reasons.