Nintendo announces the end of online services on the 3DS and Wii U

As Nintendo of America already announced in October 2023, Nintendo Germany has now also has officially announced that the online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software will be discontinued at the beginning of April 2024. The announcement from Nintendo of America even gives a specific date of April 8, 2024. However, the Japanese games company has stated that it reserves the right to discontinue the online services earlier.

This affects online game modes, leaderboards and data transfers. However, players will still be able to play offline and use all functions and modes that do not require an internet connection. It will still be possible to download previously purchased software and updates.

Online services will be discontinued not only for Nintendo games, but also for most 3DS and Wii U games from other publishers. For more detailed information on which software is affected, Nintendo encourages the gaming community to contact the respective publishers directly.

What happens to brands from Nintendo Badge Arcade?

Nintendo Badge Arcade is a Free to Play Game for the Nintendo 3DS family - a virtual slot machine in which players can catch badges with a grabbing arm, which can then be used to personalize the HOME menu of the 3DS. According to Nintendo, the badges can also be redeemed after the online services have been discontinued. However, as Badge Acarde will no longer be available from April, players should transfer their collected badges to their badge case beforehand.

Two Pokémon services will remain

Fans will probably mourn the loss of the online modes of the Pokémon games in particular. Although Nintendo has not yet commented on this specifically, it looks as if the company will not make an exception for the Pokémon series. Online battles and exchanges on the Nintendo 3DS will no longer be possible in the future.

However, two online services will be retained for the time being: Pokémon Bank and PokéMover, which allow players to manage and transfer their Pokémon collections across different game generations.

Although the transfer services are to be retained for the time being, the Pokémon Company recommends in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that players transfer their pocket monsters to Pokémon HOME as soon as possible. It is therefore conceivable that these services will also no longer be available in the near future.