Wii U and 3DS Online Play Are Officially Ending In April

gameranx.com:

Nintendo has officially given a date for the end of Wii U and 3DS online play and communication services.

They shared this statement on Twitter:

“Update: as of 4/8, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end service for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Thank you very much for your continued support of our products.”

In the official support page on this issue, Nintendo clarified this will be on 4 PM PT. They also shared this warning:

“Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned.”

So the real end date is anytime between now until April 8, dependent on if another issue comes up before then. The most likely candidate is if hackers try to attack these servers again, but there can also be legal or other reasons for them to do so earlier.

Nintendo also addresses all the many different questions fans may have, so let’s go through them one by one.

Obviously, all games that have offline modes can still be played offline. Nintendo’s first party games mostly have a huge emphasis on offline on-disc.

 Now, many 3^rd party online games like Lost Reavers and Devil’s Third had their offline modes disconnected long ago. This could affect a small number of Wii U and 3DS titles that still have online, such as Tekken 3D Prime Edition and Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Nintendo states there will be some exceptions, so players need to contact individual 3^rd party publishers about online modes for their games, so who knows? Maybe we can still play Tekken online on these platforms in the future.

Nintendo reassured Pokemon fans that Pokemon Bank and Pokemon Transporter will still be usable in the near future.

Nintendo will still push updates for Wii U and 3DS firmware and software. It will also still be possible to redownload previously purchased software.

Streetpass, which is based on local communication between 3DS