Nintendo to shut down operations in Brazil due to high taxes

Game distribution company Juegos de Video Latinoamérica (JVL) will no longer sell Nintendo titles, consoles and other products in Brazil due to the high taxes the South American country charges companies for selling products made overseas, says OUL Jogos.

“Brazil is an important market for Nintendo and home to many passionate fans, but unfortunately, challenges in the local business environment have made ​​our current distribution model in the country unsustainable,” stated Bill van Zyll, Director and General Manager for Latin America at Nintendo of America.

JVL distributes Nintendo products across Latin American since the year 2000, and in Brazil specifically in the last four years via its subsidiary Gaming do Brasil.

“We are partners in Nintendo’s distribution of its products in Latin America for 14 years and we remain committed to the brand. And while no other changes are planned for other markets in the region, we are in a position in which we need to re-evaluate our approach to distribution in Brazil,” said Bernard Josephs, Juegos de Video Latinoamérica CEO.

The withdrawal from the Brazilian market is temporary, van Zyll added. However, Nintendo still does not know when it will return to Brazil and in what manner.

“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 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.”

This is not the first time Nintendo and other game companies have had problems.

For over a year, Nintendo had difficulties establishing a Brazilian version of its eShop online store. The Wii U store does not even exist in the Brazilian market. In other words, gamers in the Portuguese-speaking South American country cannot purchase any content such as games, apps, or downloadable content.

Sony and Microsoft know this too well as both companies experienced the same difficulties with their online stores. Currently, these two companies do the manufacture and sale of their consoles and games also in Brazil to avoid the extremely high tax of about 63% for foreign-made products.

Gamers in Brazil may have no other choice than buying Nintendo products from overseas at high prices, starting this month.

[Source]: UOL Jogos: Culpando altos impostos, Nintendo encerra operações no Brasil.