PSA: Nintendo will discontinue online play for 3DS and Wii U on April 8th

We now know the date and time that Nintendo will separate online services for the 3DS and Wii U, Which is scheduled to April 8, 2024, 4pm PT / 7pm ET. If you are in Japan, it will be the morning of April 9, at 9am.

If you use one of these systems, you should take note Support page warning for users If you have unused eShop credit associated with a Nintendo Network ID, you have until March 11 at 10 PM PT to link the wallet to your Nintendo Account so that those funds can be used to purchase items for use with the Nintendo Switch.

Even if you don't have a Switch, you can still create an account and merge funds.

Nintendo announced the spring shutdown a few months ago, explaining that while StreetPass, Pokémon Bank, and Poké Transporter would continue to work for anyone still using those services, its SpotPass and Nintendo Badge Arcade services were gone forever. As we noted at the time, the Wii U was one of Nintendo's worst-performing consoles ever, with sales of just 13 million or so, while the Nintendo 3DS had 75 million in sales starting from its launch in 2010 and continuing until it was discontinued in 2020.

Just as Nintendo said last fall, even with the online service shutting down resulting in an end to online play, leaderboards and other data, “for the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to download update data and re-download purchased software and downloadable content from the Nintendo Store.” electronic.”