Nintendo fans distraught as popular feature disappears – gamers thought they had months left

NINTENDO announced that one of its more popular features would be sundowned in 2024.

However, fans have begun noticing that features are no longer working months before they were meant to be removed.

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In 2023, Nintendo stated that “online play and other functionality” would be removed from the 3DS and Wii U in early April 2024.

Essentially, any feature that uses online communication to function on 3DS and Wii U will no longer work later in the year.

While single-player games will still function exactly as intended, online multiplayer alongside a number of other features will no longer be available.

However, users have started noticing that some of their online games have already stopped working.

During the holiday period they noticed new error codes popping up and signs that said the game can no longer synchronise with the server.

Nintendo originally stated: “We will announce a specific end date and timing [for 3DS and Wii U online services] at a later date.

“Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned.”

Originally players thought that Nintendo was sunsetting online services early, but this appears to not be the case.

Speaking to Pretendo, Nintendo stated that the issues were “unintentional” and that there were people working to resolve the issues with the legacy servers.

While it was not confirmed if the servers for every affected game will be fixed, a number of fixes have already begun.

Some online features have returned to service, and users have noticed that previous non-functional features now work as intended.

It seems that Nintendo still intends to retire these services in April, so players will have a few more months to enjoy them.

If you want to read more about Nintendo, check out all the gaming release dates for 2024.

Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.