It has been announced by Nintendo that, as of April 2024, the online services provisions for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U will be shut down forever – but it may happen earlier. It was stressed in a press release this morning that ‘if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we (Nintendo) may have to discontinue services earlier than planned.’
That effectively means that Nintendo could drop the shutdown bomb on fans of these legendary platforms without too much notice, which is quite unfortunate. On March 28th, the Nintendo eShops for the Wii U and the 3DS were sunsetted – and now the online services are set to follow.
End of an Era
For some, this news won’t cause them to lose any sleep. After all, the Wii U was the worst-selling Nintendo console of all time, even if it was relatively innovative when it was released. Before it was discontinued in 2020, the Nintendo 3DS had racked up around 75 million sales, and that really was a fan-favourite console. It had a decade-long shelf life that saw it outlive some other, popular platforms, but all good things come to an end, right?
In the statement published by Nintendo, it was said:
We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologise for any inconvenience.
There were a few questions asked that would hopefully satiate some of the concerns of the Nintendo fans around the world.
- Players can still use features and game modes that do not require online communication.
- It will be possible to use the Pokémon Bank after the shutdown
- It will be possible ‘for the foreseeable future’ to download update data and to redownload purchased software and content from the Nintendo eShop
- StreetPass will still be a thing between Nintendo 3DS family systems – but not SpotPass
How do you feel about the shutdown of these online services after all this time?
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news regarding the new Gold Shadow Xbox controller