Summary
- Nintendo will be shutting down online services for the 3DS and Wii U in Spring 2024, impacting the majority of their libraries and affecting features like online connectivity, leaderboards, and multiplayer for popular games like Pokemon and Super Smash Bros.
- Pokemon fans, in particular, will miss out on the online trade and battle functionalities in games like Pokemon X and Y, and Pokemon Sun and Moon.
- While players can still use Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter to transfer critters to Pokemon Home for now, Nintendo warns that these services will eventually cease to function.
Nintendo has announced that it will be shutting down the remaining online services for the 3DS and Wii U in Spring 2024. While this shutdown was inevitable, it has an even greater sting after the closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops back in March 2023. The majority of the 3DS and Wii U's library will be affected when the systems' online communications cease functioning, but Pokemon fans may have the most to lose from this situation, although not as much as they might expect.
The 3DS was notable for the advancements it made to online communications among handheld consoles. Features like SpotPass that allowed players to receive software and data from LAN access points and the ability to transfer data from one 3DS system to another were very helpful functions that will no longer be possible after these online servers are shut down. Additionally, in-game online connectivity like leaderboards and multiplayer for certain games will be disabled, which will affect some of Nintendo's biggest franchises like Super Smash Bros. And Pokemon.
How the Pokemon Series Will be Affected by the 3DS Server Shutdown
The Pokemon series has always emphasized the connection between players going all the way back to the Gen 1 days of using a link cable to connect two Game Boys for trading and battling. Although the link cable seems archaic by today's standards, it doesn't run the risk of making connectivity entirely unavailable like the use of the internet for online play does. With the 3DS home to several games from Pokemon's Gen 6 and Gen 7, it's a shame that players will lose access to most of those games' online features when this shutdown occurs.
The main features that will be unavailable after the 3DS and Wii U servers are taken offline are the online trade and battle functionalities. Pokemon X and Y featured the Player Search System that allowed players to connect with others both locally and over the internet to participate in events like battles, Wonder Trades, and the Global Trade Station, and Pokemon Sun and Moon introduced similar features within the Festival Plaza. However, the online component of these features will cease to function after the servers shut down in Spring 2024, though local multiplayer should still function as before.
Fortunately for Pokemon fans concerned about the critters they might currently be keeping on their 3DS systems, Nintendo confirmed that Pokemon Bank and the Poke Transporter software will continue to function for the foreseeable future after the 3DS servers are shut down. This software is crucial in allowing players to transfer critters from previous generations up to the current cloud-based Pokemon Home software which can be accessed to transfer mons to the most recent generations on the Nintendo Switch. For the time being, players holding off on transferring their collection of critters from the 3DS games to Pokemon Home are not in any danger of losing out on the ability to do so.
However, like the inevitability of this online server shutdown for the 3DS and Wii U, Nintendo states that there will come a time when Pokemon Bank and the Poke Transporter will no longer be functional and recommends players transfer their creatures to Pokemon Home as soon as possible. The ending of online services is an unfortunate part of the modern gaming space and one that more games should better plan for, but it's a good sign for Pokemon fans that Nintendo is being transparent with how they plan to roll out the end of important services for the series. While battles and trades will no longer be possible on the 3DS, at least the ability to transfer critters will remain for now.