Nintendo is shutting down 3DS and Wii U online services in April 2024
Nintendo has announced that they will be shutting down almost all online services for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U in April 2024, ending all online features that include online multiplayer and co-op play, internet rankings and data and content sharing between users. A specific date will be shared closer to that point.
The two exceptions to this are the Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter apps, which are still used as gateways to port Pokémon between games.
Nintendo also make sure to note that offline games and functionality will remain, and so will “features and game modes that do not require online communication.” This means that local ad hoc multiplayer will still work in most 3DS games. Additionally, they restate that any digital purchases from the Nintendo eShop will still be accessible to re-download “for the foreseeable future”, though it certainly feels like there’s a ticking clock on that.
This move follows on from the company having ended Nintendo eShop support for both the 3DS and Wii U in March 2023, and pushes the consoles toward almost complete obsolescence. It means that fantastic multiplayer games like the original Splatoon, Mario Kart 7 and 8, and plenty more besides will all lose a big chunk of their appeal, even if many publishers and developers will have long ended support for individual games, and player counts will have dwindled significantly over the last few years.
Maintaining support for old servers and games is then often not worth the time and effort for companies, especially as new and more complicated security issues emerge over time. Splatoon and Mario Kart 8 were both taken offline for five months this year, only returning in August once the games had been patched.
It’s another reminder of
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