Rest in peace, Wii U and 3DS: Nintendo will permanently shut down its servers

April 8, 2024, is the date set for the closure of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U servers. This marks the end of an era and its final decline, as Nintendo decides to almost completely shut down the online services of these systems, with very few exceptions.

When will the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U servers close? What does it mean when the servers shut down?

As you can read on the Nintendo Support website, the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U servers are scheduled to shut down on April 8, 2024, at 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET.

From this date and time, it will be impossible to play Nintendo 3DS and Wii U video games online. Affected systems include Wii U and all Nintendo 3DS family consoles (Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS, New Nintendo 2DS XL). Titles such as Splatoon, Mario Kart 8 or Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS will no longer offer their online modes after these servers are shut down.

Another service that will no longer be supported on Nintendo 3DS is SpotPass, but StreetPass will continue to work because it only uses local communication. However, both Wii U and 3DS will still be able to play video games offline without any problems.

Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter are two Nintendo 3DS applications dedicated to Pokémon storage that will continue to be supported for now. They are two apps that allow you to move your Pokémon between different games and even systems: from Nintendo DS to Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch via Pokémon HOME.

However, Nintendo clarifies that for the time being, it will still be possible to update video games that require patches and also to re-download anything that was purchased prior to the closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops in March 2023.

What are the reasons for the closure of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U servers?

Although Nintendo has not provided details, it does not seem unreasonable to think that the closure of the servers is a response to an economic necessity. Creating and maintaining an online infrastructure costs money in the form of the cost of the servers themselves and the salaries of the people who maintain them, and both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are game consoles that Nintendo discontinued in favor of the Switch.

In other words: Nintendo is currently focused on continuing to support Nintendo Switch, which indirectly influenced the decision to shut down the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U servers.

Shutting down online services is something we have sadly become accustomed to and is inherent in the current paradigm of the video game industry. In 2024, the Xbox 360 Marketplace will also be shut down as part of Microsoft’s plans to discontinue support for the console, which was launched in 2005 and is now discontinued.

The permanent closure of these platforms is a recurring argument in favor of preserving video games in physical form, since media such as cartridges or discs that hold many games have the same useful life as the physical media they use, unlike digital platforms that only “live” as long as their respective owners allow.