Soon, all online services for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS will come to an end. Since the early 2000s, the gaming industry has become increasingly connected to the internet. Things like the PS2 were offline devices, but they supported online capabilities and Xbox went the extra mile with a service like Xbox Live. When the next generation arrived, online gaming was at the forefront. You had the ability to download games from the internet, purchase add-ons, party up with friends even if they weren’t playing the same game as you, and much more. Now, every gaming device has online play at the center of it, but unfortunately, these things can only be supported for so long. Given the cost associated with maintaining these things, eventually the companies responsible will have to shut things down once they realize there aren’t enough players enjoying this content to justify supporting it.
Sadly, the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS are at the end of their online lives. Released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are over a decade old and Nintendo has long since moved on to the Nintendo Switch. Not only that, but Nintendo is gearing up for the release of its next console which may come as soon as this fall. With that said, on April 8th, 2024, online services for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will shut down. This means you will no longer be able to play online games (with some exceptions, though we don’t know what those exceptions are) on these devices after this date. However, update data will still remain available for the “foreseeable future”. You can view the Q&A Nintendo has released on the matter below.
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Will I still be able to play offline even after online services end?
Yes. Players will still be able to use features and game modes that do not require online communication.
Will any online services still be available even after online services generally end?
It will still be possible to use online services for the following software but that may also end at some point in the future:
– Pokรฉmon Bank
– Pokรฉ Transporter
Are you also ending online services for software from publishers other than Nintendo?
With some exceptions, online services will end for all Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Please contact publishers for information about the online services for their software.
Will it still be possible to download update data or purchased software?
For the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to download update data and redownload purchased software and downloadable content from Nintendo eShop.
When online services end, will StreetPass and SpotPass no longer be available either?
StreetPass uses local communication between Nintendo 3DS family systems, meaning that it will still be available even after online services end. However, because SpotPass uses online communication, SpotPass features will no longer be available. For example, you will be able to use StreetPass in StreetPass Mii Plaza, which is pre-installed on Nintendo 3DS family systems, but you will no longer be able to use features that use online communication (such as receiving new panels in Puzzle Swap).
