Nintendo loses court appeal in Germany over eShop pre-order cancellations

Nintendo has lost a German court appeal after its Switch eShop pre-order cancellation and refund policies were found wanting.

As reported by Nintendo Life, the Japanese company had come under fire in Europe for not allowing consumers to cancel and refund eShop pre-orders.

The German Consumer Protection Authority (VZBV) and Norway's Consumer Rights Council accused Nintendo of violating Norwegian and EU consumers laws, and took the company to court as a result.

Nintendo won that case pending appeal, but the decision has now been reversed by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt.

It's unclear whether this means Nintendo will need to revise its policy, however, as amended rules ushered in during 2020 currently allow eShop pre-orders to be cancelled more than a week ahead of a game's launch -- although the marketplace still demands consumers withdraw their statutory right to cancel pre-orders beyond that point.

"The Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main had dismissed the vzbv's action at first instance. With their appeal to the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, the consumer advocates have now been successful," reads a summary of the court case

"At the hearing, after discussing the legal situation, the judges had advised Nintendo to recognise the vzbv's claim for injunctive relief as justified. The company complied with this. In the acknowledgment judgment, the court upheld the vzbv's action in its entirety. As is customary in such judgments, the acknowledgment judgment does not contain any grounds for decision."