It was only a matter of time. With the Wii U been around since 2012 and the 3DS in 2011, Nintendo made the official announcement to close the online eShop for both consoles in late March 2023.
That’s not all.
As of May 23, 2022. customers cannot add funds to their account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. Additionally, as of August 29, 2022, it will not be possible to use a Nintendo eShop Card to add funds to an account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. However, customers can redeem download codes until late March 2023.
With these changes, it’ll also effect in software on these consoles where it is possible to make purchases, such as StreetPass Mii Plaza, Theme Shop and Nintendo Badge Arcade. No changes in the eShop on the Nintendo Switch console.
The positive part of this announcement is customers can still redownload games and DLC on Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS.
This isn’t the first time Nintendo has pulled content and an online store. Nintendo closed up the Nintendo Wii’s shop channel on January 30, 2019. Later, Mario Maker online courses for the Wii U were pulled down. Lately, the Super Mario 3D All-Stars digital version was available for purchase until March 31, 2021. Fortunately, customers can redownload content after the game pulled from their online store.
PlayStation already on the path into looking to pull its online stores for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable (PSP). Xbox did make it easier to play old and new content on existing Xbox consoles. However, some games cannot play on the Xbox Series X/S. With how digital content easily pulled from customers, does this change your mind on purchasing games and other content online?
Source: Nintendo