It’s a tradition that as hardware ages, companies will stop supporting it with new releases, and eventually online services shut down. It has been a slow death for the 3DS and the Wii U which had their eShops shut down this year. The next step in phasing out these devices will come in April 2024 when Nintendo shuts down online services for software on the platforms.
In short, this means that online play and anything else that requires the internet will no longer be available for the 3DS and Wii U. Nintendo has clarified that a more specific date for the shutdown will be revealed later.
What happens after online services are shut down for 3DS and Wii U?
Let’s start with what won’t be getting axed. The shutdown of online services on the 3DS and Wii U won’t stop you from playing single-player offline games. You won’t lose your library either because “it will still be possible to download update data and redownload purchased software and downloadable content from Nintendo eShop.”
StreetPass will still be fully functional, as that relies on local communication, though you will lose SpotPass. You’ll also be losing the following:
- online co-operative play
- internet rankings
- data distribution
Pokemon players can breathe a sigh of relief, as Pokemon Bank will still have access to online services, though “that may also end at some point in the future.”
The shutdown of online services is unfortunate but unavoidable too. It does seem that Nintendo is freeing up resources as it looks to its future which, if reports are to be believed, may feature a Switch successor as soon as next year.
