Nintendo announced that it will cease selling its games and consoles in Brazil, citing economic hurdles specific to the nation.
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As reported by UOL Jogos (and translated by Google), the Japanese company will stop offering its products in Brazil as of January 2015. Nintendo has sold its gaming wares there for four years, but stated that high taxes and other obstacles have caused it to withdraw.
"Brazil is an important market for Nintendo and home to many passionate fans but unfortunately challenges in the business local environment have made our current distribution model unsustainable in the country," said Director and General Manager for Latin America Nintendo of America Bill van Zyll.
"These challenges include high tariffs on imports that apply to our industry and our decision not to have a local manufacturing operation. Working together with the Juegos de Video Latinoamérica, we will monitor the evolution of the business environment and evaluate the best way to serve our Brazilian fans in the future."
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The news is certainly unfortunate for gamers in the region, though the last section seems to signal an intention to return down the line. Hopefully better terms can be worked out with the authorities, as it would be sad to see the nation deprived of Nintendo's products for along period.
Juegos de Video Latinoamérica will remain Nintendo's distributor for Latin America at large, as it has been for the past 14 years. UOL Jogos notes that Nintendo has always experienced issues in Brazil, with complicated eShop transactions on 3DS and a nonexistent online store for Wii U due to banking regulations.
