Why Nintendo Pulled User Reviews From eShop Days After Adding The Feature

Customer reviews are among the most useful tools of consumers for determining if a product or service is worth paying for or not. This is why major retail sites allow for such feedback to be added and is likely why Nintendo wanted to test it out on its own eShop. However, days after offering the option, the company decided to have it removed. Apparently, it was just something of a trial.

As PC Mag notes, Nintendo Switch owners were only given the ability to leave customer reviews last week, allowing the Japanese company to catch up to common online shopping practices. Today, however, users over at Reddit noticed that the feature is no longer available. As for what the explanation was, Nintendo did leave a note alerting users of the issue.

"Customer reviews have been taken offline as we evaluate this feature and its functionality. We currently have no estimated date on when an update will be provided. We appreciate the positive response and thank the reviewers who provided such thoughtful commentary on the games," Nintendo writes.

This took users by surprise since it was largely accepted within the community that reviews are going to be a permanent feature. In a statement to Kotaku, however, Nintendo explained that this was not the case. The reviews are only part of a trial that the company was running.

“Nintendo.com recently offered a trial customer review feature to let users share feedback about Nintendo Switch games on our website. The response has been positive, and Nintendo appreciates the time and effort that reviewers put into their thoughtful commentary on the games. Nintendo has removed this feature as we evaluate the future of the ratings functionality on Nintendo.com. We have no estimate on when an update will be provided on the status of this initiative, but we appreciate the enthusiasm shown for the trial,” the statement reads.