Nintendo to discontinue sales on Wii U and 3DS eShops in March 2023

Written by. Nick Mosier based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-02-16 10:43 JST)

On February 15, Nintendo announced that users will no longer be able to make purchases on the Wii U and 3DS eShops as of late March 2023. On August 29, 2022, users will no longer be able to add funds with Nintendo eShop Cards on these consoles and the use of credit cards to add funds will not be possible after May 23, 2022.

The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U each have an online store available called the Nintendo eShop. And through the eShop, players can purchase things like games and additional content. As part of what Nintendo calls, “the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time,” the eShops for these consoles are being discontinued.

The ability to add funds on these stores will end August 29, but users with linked Nintendo Network IDs will be able to use their account balances until March 2023. After that, these balances will only be usable on the Nintendo Switch eShop and My Nintendo Store.

It will not be possible to buy content from these stores as of March 2023, and this includes content purchasable within games. However, it will be possible to redownload already purchased games and extra content. It does sound like service for that will eventually come to an end as well, according to the Japanese Nintendo Support announcement.

As a warning, consider a title like Fire Emblem: Fates for the 3DS where players are given a choice and can access the eShop to purchase the opposing scenario (either Birthright or Conquest) during gameplay. This is done by accessing the eShop, so when purchases are discontinued, it will no longer be possible to add the scenario. This also means sales of the 3^rd scenario, Revelation, will no longer be available.

For more information, please check the Nintendo Support website.