Octopath Traveler is temporarily unavailable on the eShop, but it’s coming back ‘soon’

destructoid.com:

One of the Switch’s most notable early RPGs is temporarily unavailable on its storefront. Today, users noticed that the first Octopath Traveler is unavailable to buy on the Nintendo eShop.

Visiting the eShop page for Octopath Traveler, at the time of this writing, will display a greyed-out “Not available” icon where the purchase button should be. We reached out to Nintendo to inquire about this, and were directed to a support page that explains some of the situation:

Octopath Traveler is temporarily unavailable for purchase on the Nintendo Switch eShop and My Nintendo Store as of March 1, 2024. The game will be available to purchase again soon.

If you previously purchased this game, it can still be re-downloaded from the Nintendo eShop.

Those have already purchased Octopath Traveler should still be able to redownload their game. Nintendo outlines how to redownload it from the eShop on its support page.

It’s unclear why, exactly, the game has been taken down from just Nintendo’s storefront. The RPG remains available on other platform storefronts like Steam, and on stores like Humble. It’s worth noting that, while Nintendo was originally the publisher of Octopath Traveler, the eShop page currently lists Square Enix as the publisher, as spotted by Gematsu.

We’ve also reached out to Square Enix for comment, and will update if we hear back.

Octopath Traveler was an early hit for the Switch, providing a big RPG exclusive for Nintendo’s handheld hybrid. Though its now six years old, seeing it mysteriously disappear from the storefront is strange. I’d hope this is just a case of some back-end changes, and that the game pops back soon, as Nintendo’s support page indicates.

Still, if you’re seeking some gorgeous adventures, you can’t really go wrong with its sequel either. Octopath Traveler 2 was a highlight of last year’s RPG lineup, and remains available on the eShop. Regardless, hopefully this first entry will be readily accessible again soon.