Nintendo 3DS and Wii U date back to the era of the legendary former president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, and since then, Nintendo has provided online support. Unfortunately, as is the case with all consoles, their lifecycle will soon come to an end.
Nintendo announced that "in early April 2024," it will shut down the servers for both consoles, making it impossible to enjoy "online play and other functionality that uses online communication" from that point onward.
"We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software for such a long time and apologize for any inconvenience," Nintendo expressed.
When will the servers of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U stop working?
The company made the announcement in the quiet of the Tuesday night of October 3 in the Western hemisphere, but that didn't prevent the post from gaining significant exposure in the hours that followed.
Nintendo did not reveal the exact date but is expected to disclose it in the coming months. However, the company warns that the shutdown date could be advanced due to unforeseen events that "make it difficult to continue online services."
Will all Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games stop working?
The server shutdown will affect the entire family of Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo 2DS consoles (New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS), as well as the two models of Wii U (Wii U Basic and Wii U Deluxe).
It is important to mention that games purchased on both consoles, whether physically or digitally, will continue to work on the console where they are installed. The only thing that won't work is online play, online cooperative play, online leaderboards, and information distribution.
Nintendo states that all games will cease to function but indicates that there might be "some exceptions," thanks to the companies responsible for their own games, so it encourages direct inquiries to them. Also, it was confirmed that the only application that will continue to work online is Pokémon Bank (Nintendo 3DS), used to store Pokémon and has been free to use since the closure of the Nintendo eShop of Nintendo 3DS (if you ever downloaded it).
What will happen to the Nintendo eShop?
As you may recall, the Nintendo eShop for both consoles no longer allows new purchases, but players can still download software or downloadable content they previously bought, as well as updates. This will continue to be possible after the server shutdown date.
Furthermore, the StreetPass feature will continue to work as it doesn't require an internet connection; on the contrary, the SpotPass feature will cease to function.
After the servers of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U shut down, is Nintendo Switch 2 on the horizon?
Honestly, the announcement of the server shutdown was expected, as in April of this year, Nintendo closed the online store for both consoles, Nintendo eShop. However, fans hoped it would be later rather than sooner.
So, the only console that Nintendo will provide online support for from May 2024 onwards will be the Nintendo Switch.
This is particularly noteworthy because the company has not had active servers exclusively for a console for a long time, considering that after the Nintendo 3DS, the company unified home and portable gaming.
This also fuels speculation about the alleged successor to the Nintendo Switch, especially since it's normal for a company to stop providing online support for previous consoles when it's close to launching a new one in the market.
We will keep you informed.
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