Nintendo America has now made it official that the 3DS and Wii U eShop will be shutting down next year.
Players who have loyally played games on the Wii U and 3DS will have to purchase DLCs and digital games via their consoles within this year as both consoles’ eShop will be closed in March 2023. They will not be able to make purchases or download free game demos from the store. Credit card transactions and the use of Nintendo eShop Cards has been stopped by Nintendo as well.
According to Nintendo, this is the part of the natural lifecycle for any product line. Since it has become less used by customers over time, it was about time to close its doors.
By May 23, 2022, other regions will also not support credit card usage for purchasing games in the store. On August 29, 2022, the Nintendo eShop Card will no longer be supported as well. The only way to purchase games during those times will be to link their Nintendo Network ID wallet to their Nintendo Account.
Not to worry about the games and DLCs that have been purchased already, they are still redownloadable. Software updates for games is still available as well even if the eShop closes down. There will be a few free themes that can still be downloadable at the 3DS Theme Shop. Online play will still be supported.
The eShop of both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U consoles will be shut down in March 2023.