Nintendo confirms the shutdown date for 3DS and Wii U online play
Nintendo has confirmed that the online services for the Wii U and 3DS will be discontinued on April 8, 2024.
The details:
Nintendo announced last October that the online services for the 3DS and Wii U will be shut down in April 2024, more than a decade after the consoles' release. This will make online multiplayer, leaderboards, and other features inaccessible.
The company has now announced that the closure will take place on April 8 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET / 12am GMT. Update data and purchased content from the eShop on both systems will remain accessible "for the foreseeable future,” and you can merge your eShop wallet with your Switch account until March.
The only first-party exceptions to the closure are Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter, which will continue to function due to their use in moving Pokémon to later titles, but Nintendo has stated that these may also be shut down in the future.
Nintendo closed the Wii U and 3DS eShops in March 2023, after removing the ability to add funds in 2022. This resulted in a major archiving effort costing over $20,000, as well as the purchase of everything only available digitally on the storefronts to preserve it after the closure.
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