The Nintendo eShop for Wii U and 3DS will close in March 2023

Nintendo announces the closure of online game stores for the 3DS and Wii U in March 2023. The pin again raises the question of protecting video games because it condemns so many headlines for disappearing.

Live one more year, eShops, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online game stores will definitely close. After the end of March 2023, you will no longer be able to purchase games, additional content, or any other type of product (even free as demos) in these stores. Content already purchased can be downloaded again… ”sometime“, In words Contact from Nintendo France.

The interruption process will begin on May 23, 2022, and from that date your 3DS and Wii U eShop account will not be financed by bank card; Prepaid cards will stop working from August 29. On the other hand, purchases will be possible until March 2023 for those who have linked their Nintendo ID account (used on 3DS and Wii U) to the Nintendo Network account (used on Switch). For this purpose .. Similarly, the download codes will be usable up to this expiration date.

Dozens of games may disappear

The maneuver is described American branch of Nintendo As it does “A part of the natural life cycle of any object“. However, it raises important questions about the protection of video games, because although the list of games available for download is relatively underdeveloped on these two sites, it still represents dozens of titles.

The problem already arose when Sony announced its intention to close the Nintendo DSi Store in 2017, the WiiWare Store in 2019, and then the PlayStation Store’s PSP, PS3 and PS Vita divisions in 2021. In the latter case, player dissatisfaction eventually led Sony to give a refund to the PS3 and PS Vita – but not the PSP. There are no illusions about Nintendo on the other hand: Unfortunately, submission to popular opposition is not in the company’s habit.