Tencent Ceasing Distribution of Nintendo Switch in China 

Technology and entertainment conglomerate Tencent, the distributor of the Nintendo Switch in China, seems to be will no longer be distributing the console.

In a report by FanPiece, Tencent has made an announcement that the Nintendo Switch Official Flagship Store on Tmall will be closed down due to operational adjustments.

While the announcement did not specify the reason for the shutdown, FanPiece noted that it is due to the Nintendo Switch not selling well in China, especially under the country’s strict censorship which restricted a lot of the hardware’s features and games to be released.

In the announcement, it was mentioned that due to recent operational adjustments, Nintendo Switch-related products and accessories will still continue to be sold, but through the “Nintendo Switch Flagship Store” Tmall store.

Meanwhile, the original Tmall “Nintendo Switch Official Flagship Store” will be closed and unavailable, and users will be guided to a “new store” to purchase products.

The word “new store” likely implies that another distributor will be taking Tencent’s place in distributing the Nintendo Switch in the country.

The announcement also noted that the official WeChat store of Nintendo Switch will suspend services on January 15th, 2024, due to system update and maintenance.

The Nintendo Switch was launched in China in December 2019 in partnership with distributor Tencent, 2 years after the rest of the world got their hands on the device.

On the other hand, the OLED display iteration of the console was later officially launched in the country on January 11th, 2022.

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