Nintendo Clamps Down On Exploit For Cheaper Eshop Games

thegamer.com:

Nintendo has removed a loophole used to buy cheaper games on the eShop, restricting users' ability to change their location. This officially stops many Switch owners from buying their games on the Argentinian eShop, which after currency conversion, often worked out significantly cheaper.

Following complaints online, we tested this ourselves and can confirm that switching a Nintendo account's location from the UK to Argentina removes pre-saved payment options. It also wouldn't accept a British debit card as a form of payment, and it wouldn't support PayPal at all. This will make it significantly harder for Nintendo fans looking for cheaper deals, but thankfully, keep the prices in Argentina intact for those that live there.

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This development was initially spotted by Felipe Lima, editor-in-chief of Universo Nintendo (thanks, ResetEra). Here, it was noted that Brazillian cards would not work on the Argentinian eShop, closing an exploit some would use to get the same games at a cheaper price.

We can confirm that this is the case for bank cards issued in the UK as well. The location change removed my previous card details and the option to sign into PayPal. It remains to be seen which other countries have been affected by this change.

As a Brit who has just moved to Ireland, I went to see if this limited how I used the eShop normally. In this case, though, I was fine. Switching my location from the UK to the Republic of Ireland didn't remove my previous payment options, and I was able to purchase a title without issue. On a related note, I am now the proud owner of Wash Simulator, which set me back 99 cents. Fantastic.

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