On March 27, 2023, Nintendo officially discontinued the Nintendo 3DS eShop. This resulted in Pokemon Bank not being available for new users. The 3DS itself was discontinued in 2020, so it was pretty evident that Nintendo would soon shut down the eShop and other online services. Following the closure of the 3DS eShop, Nintendo announced that Pokemon Bank would become free to use for the time being, with their exact words being, “There is no end date planned for this Pokemon Bank no-cost service”. However, with 2024 approaching, many users are worried about Nintendo shutting it down.
To be honest, this isn’t an irrelevant thought. Every piece of online media is meant to shut down at one point or another. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. The same applies to Pokemon Bank too. The only thing that matters now is when. So, is Pokemon Bank finally shutting down in 2024? Continue reading to find out!
Is Pokemon Bank Shutting down (2024)
Unfortunately, at this point, we believe that there’s a high chance that Pokemon Bank along with Poke Transporter will be shut down in 2024. Why? Well, Nintendo just recently announced that it will end online play and anything that uses online communication for the Nintendo 3DS and WiiU. Here’s the tweet from October 4, 2023, that mentions all this:
As of early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end service for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Thank you very much for your continued support of our products.
Find out more: https://t.co/nOyzBImHCE
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 4, 2023
In a separate announcement on the official Nintendo Support page, the company also stated 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.” As for both Pokemon Bank and Poke Transfer, Nintendo talked about their future in the FAQ section of the announcement. It basically says that users will be able to use online services for both Bank and Transfer but even their support will end sometime later.
For a long time, Nintendo has been encouraging users to transfer their Pokemon from Pokemon Bank to Pokemon Home, and that’s a clear-cut sign of the company hinting at a nearing closure.
And this time even the WiiU is on the chopping block. The Switch itself is essentially at the end of its life cycle, and with all the rumors flying by, it’s safe to say that Nintendo will announce new hardware sometime next year. So, for them, it would make sense to end unessential support for age-old hardware. So, while there’s still time, we highly recommend you transfer your Pokemon from Pokemon Bank to Pokemon Home. However, do note that you will need to purchase a Pokemon Home Premium Plan to do that.
And that’s all you need to know on this topic. If you happen to be facing issues with Pokemon Bank not working properly, you can check out this guide. And as always, don’t forget to follow DigiStatement. Also read: Are Pokemon Bank servers down? Here is how you can check server status online
