Nihon Wire
← Back to News
🎮 Games

May 12, 2026

Nintendo Drops the 'My' — Official Online Store Rebrands as 'Nintendo Store' on May 27

🇯🇵 Originally reported by GAME Watch

Translated from Japanese with commentary

View Original (Japanese) →

BODY: Nintendo is tidying up its storefront. Starting May 27, the company's official Japanese online shop — known since 2016 as "My Nintendo Store (マイニンテンドーストア)" — will drop the "My" and become, simply, the "Nintendo Store."

The change is purely a name swap, with no announced overhaul to the site's functionality, account system, or product lineup. Shoppers will still log in with the same Nintendo Account they use for the eShop, My Nintendo rewards, and Switch Online services. URLs and order histories carry over, and the "My Nintendo" loyalty program itself — the rewards platform the store was named after — appears to continue under its existing branding.

Why the rename? Nintendo hasn't given a detailed reason, but the timing is suggestive. With Switch 2 now in market and a noticeably more global, more direct-to-consumer Nintendo emerging post-launch, the "My" prefix has long been a source of mild confusion: it implied a personalized account portal when, in practice, the site functions as Nintendo's flagship retail channel. Trimming the name aligns the Japanese store with how Nintendo refers to its retail operations in English-speaking markets, where physical "Nintendo Store" locations already exist in New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo's Shibuya.

It's also a subtle signal of confidence. Nintendo is increasingly comfortable selling hardware, accessories, and exclusive merchandise directly, rather than leaning solely on retail partners — a posture that the cleaner, more authoritative "Nintendo Store" name reinforces.

The insider take

In Tokyo, the "My Nintendo" branding has always sat awkwardly in Japanese — the katakana "マイニンテンドーストア" is a mouthful even by loanword standards, and most fans here just call it "ニンテンドーストア" in conversation anyway. So the rename is less a strategic pivot than Nintendo finally catching up to how people actually talk. It also quietly distances the storefront from the aging "My Nintendo" rewards program, which has felt like a legacy layer ever since the Switch era began. Don't be surprised if a refreshed loyalty scheme follows.

Originally reported by GAME Watch (Japanese).

#games#nintendo

More in Games

Hear this story on the podcast

Nihon Wire Daily covers Japan's top stories in 10-15 minutes. Fridays are free — go daily for $5/mo.

Go Daily → $5/mo