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Nintendo to cease 3DS, Wii U eShop purchases next year

You only have a limited amount of time to purchase exclusive digital titles before the eShop goes away next year.

Daniel Hein February 16, 2022

Are there still games on the 3DS and Wii U Nintendo eShop that you haven’t bought yet? You’re gonna want to get on that quickly. The company recently announced that the Nintendo eShop support for the 3DS and Wii U will cease on March 2023. According to the company, this closure is “part of the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time.”

While the actual closure of the service is still over a year away, you have a limited amount of time to add funds to your eShop account through credit cards or eShop Cards. However, downloading previously purchased content to these systems will remain available “for the foreseeable future.”

Given that it’s now been a decade since Nintendo launched the Wii U (and longer for the 3DS), this move isn’t exactly surprising. Yet the end of the eShop’s lifecycle also signifies that physical copies of games available on the services will spike. So this is the perfect time to stock up on digital 3DS and Wii U exclusives before they’re either unavailable or suffer from markup.

All about the 3DS and Wii U Nintendo eShop closure

Nintendo is planning to wrap up the 3DS and Wii U Nintendo eShop services in stages, culminating in a block on purchases starting in March 2023. The timeline for the shutdown is as such:

On May 23, 2022, you will no longer be able to use a credit card to add funds to your eShop account for the 3DS or Wii U.
On Aug. 29, 2022, you will no longer be able to use a Nintendo eShop card to add funds to your 3DS or Wii U eShop account. From this point onward, you can still use your Nintendo Account balance to fund purchases if it’s linked with your Nintendo Network ID.
In late March 2023, you will no longer be able to make purchases on the 3DS or Wii U eShop.

To clarify; this is NOT a shutdown of the other online features for both consoles, including online play; for the time being, those will remain active. Also, we know that the Pokemon Bank service will remain available to users for free following the eShop shutdown. You can learn more about the eShop shutdown here.

What are some of your favorite Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games? Let us know!

Via Game Informer.