Nintendo Switch eShop Japanese purchases carry over to the U.S. store

Nintendo’s different digital-gaming stores for the various regions around the world are all linked together, and buying a game in one will count as purchasing it in the other.

Blaster Master Zero hit the Nintendo Switch eShop in the United States today, and I don’t have to buy that game because I already own it. The neat, throwback platformer from developer Inti Creates debuted on the Japan’s eShop last week, so I created a Japanese Nintendo Account and bought the game through that store. Blaster Master Zero featured English text, so I wasn’t worried about getting that version when it launched in the States — but it turns out I don’t even have that option. The eShop sees that I bought the game already from the Japanese store, and it is showing it as “Purchased” even in the U.S. version.