It was inevitable. Like many other connected devices and consoles, Nitendo’s line of handhelds and the underrated Wii U will soon lose online support.
In an announcement on the official Customer Support portal, the company informed the world that online co-op, rankings, and data will be unavailable come next year. The move to defunct the various connected services affects software for the 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS XL, 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, Wii U Deluxe, and Wii U Basic.
In the post, the legendary video game developer and console maker had this to say:
Thank you very much for supporting our products.
In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS* and Wii U software. This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution.
You can find more information about badges for decorating the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu using Nintendo Badge Arcade here.
We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date.
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.
We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience.
* This includes software exclusive to New Nintendo 3DS.
However, not everything is going to be subject to this network outage. The single online service that will continue to function in the short term will be Pokémon Bank. The paid utility does not have an end date yet, but the company did say the software “may also end at some point in the future.”
The Big N’s decision should not come as a surprise. The Wii U and 3DS/2DS handhelds haven’t been on store shelves for some time. As the business embraces emulation on the Switch, it makes sense to terminate the servers and, hopefully, dedicate resources to finally giving us virtual GameCube, Wii, and 2DS apps.
Now would be a good time if you’ve not updated your software library in a while. Make sure you download all the games, updates, and DLC you paid for on the eShop ASAP!
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