Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will lose online store in 2023; Pokemon Bank will be free

A Nintendo announced that the devices Wii U e Nintendo 3DS will no longer be able to purchase digital content from the end of March 2023. In other words, their eShop stores will be closed and it will only be possible to redownload what was previously purchased, before the shutdown date.

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In addition, the company also revealed that the Pokémon Bank service, which serves to transfer and store Pokémon between various existing games, will become free after the eShop closes. It currently requires a $5 annual subscription. However, it will only work for those who have already downloaded the application on their video game, without allowing new downloads.

Still about the shutdown of the 3DS and Wii U stores, Nintendo took the opportunity to thank the fans for all the support given over the years, while both systems were active on the market and receiving unreleased games. The company also launched a website where users can take a look back at what they played most in all this time on the devices – access this link.

With the closure of these stores, it will also not be possible to buy or recharge any balance via prepaid card, so if you still have some value, spend it all until then.

Why are stores shutting down?

There's no official reason for the stores to shut down on these video games, but it's no surprise that the 3DS and Wii U eShop are shutting down a year from now. The two devices are already considered quite old and have few active users at the moment - in addition to not receiving new relevant games for a long time.

The Wii U was released in 2012, while the 3DS is even older, from 2011. Nintendo is also fully focused on its latest device, the Switch, which receives games, releases and is always updated.

Speaking of updates, Nintendo also guaranteed that the 3DS and Wii U's online network will continue to work for games that eventually need an update, to fix bugs or similar situations.