Pokemon Bank Will Be Free-to-Use After Nintendo 3DS eShop Shuts Down

The Pokemon storage app Pokemon Bank will become free-to-use once the Nintendo 3DS eShop shuts down next year. The Pokemon Company revealed the fate of the Pokemon Bank app after Nintendo announced it would be shutting down the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShop in March 2023. Nintendo specifically cited Pokemon Bank as one of several apps or games that would no longer accept subscriptions, which prompted some fans (and at least one rumors account) to incorrectly state that Pokemon Bank would be shutting down next year. The Pokemon Company clarified that players would still be able to access Pokemon Bank for storage and transfer purposes even after the subscription service expired, and that they would inform players should the service discontinue. Please note that once the Nintendo 3DS eShop is shut down, it will not be possible to download Pokemon Bank onto devices that didn't already have the app installed at one point. 

Currently, the Pokemon Bank is a free-to-download app but requires a subscription service to fully utilize. Launched in 2013, the app allows users to mass-transfer Pokemon from Pokemon X and Y, Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Pokemon Sun and Moon, and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. Users could either transfer the Pokemon between games using the app or keep them in a cloud storage system. A companion program – Poke Transporter – allowed for users to make one-way transfers of Pokemon into the Gen V games Pokemon Black and White and Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, as well as the Virtual Console versions of the origina Gen 1 and Gen 2 games. An annual subscription for Pokemon Bank currently costs $4.99.

A similar cloud storage app, Pokemon Home, was released in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Players could transfer their Pokemon Bank Pokemon to Pokemon Home as a one-way transfer, but could not send the Pokemon back to the Nintendo 3DS afterwards. Pokemon Home offers the same storage options as Pokemon Home, but also allows for trading Pokemon and comes with expanded Pokedex options.