Quick you don t have long until the 3DS eShop closes down for good TechRadar Skip to main content TechRadar is supported by its audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's why you can trust us. Quick you don t have long until the 3DS eShop closes down for good By Rhys Wood last updated 21 July 2022 Wii Us don't fear the reaper (Image credit: Nintendo) Audio player loading… Nintendo has announced the exact date for when it plans to close the Wii U and 3DS eShops for good. If you're still planning on buying games digitally from the Wii U and 3DS stores, you'll have until March 27 next year to do so. The Japanese publisher made the announcement on its official support website (opens in new tab). You have much less time to add funds to these stores with a Nintendo eShop Card, though. On August 29 – just over a month from now – you'll no longer be able to add prepaid funds with these cards. However, you'll still have until the shutdown date next year to use these funds on digital Wii U and 3DS titles. Nintendo isn't outright deleting these stores or their online functionalities, though. It announced that you can still redownload previously purchased software, DLC, and updates from the stores "for the foreseeable future." (Image credit: Nintendo) Going going gone With the Nintendo Switch soaring in sales ever since its launch half a decade ago, it's understandably become the company's key focus. Unfortunately, one knock-on effect of that has been waning interest (outside of collectors) in decade-old hardware like the Wii U and 3DS. Personally, I can't help but feel like the closure of the Wii U and 3DS eShops is premature. The 3DS, especially, is home to a vast library of great games that are far easier to buy and play digitally. 3DS games that have any degree of rarity, such as the Etrian Odyssey series, Rhythm Thief, and Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, are all much harder to find physically. Not to mention such games command outrageous prices among second-hand sellers. The Wii U didn't have as many hidden gems, but its library of games turned out to be solid by the end of its lifespan, thanks to games like Xenoblade Chronicles X (still waiting on that Switch port). The Wii U's eShop was also notable for selling coveted Wii games like Metroid Prime Trilogy at remarkably affordable prices. If you still own a Wii U or 3DS and boot them up every so often, now's the time to hit those eShops and make sure you've scoured the libraries before the cutoff date. The best 3DS eShop exclusive games will be gone forever after March 27, for example. So barring any future re-releases, you have until then to secure your library of games.Play hit title Stray for free on PS4 and PS5 – here's how Rhys WoodHardware WriterRhys is Hardware Writer for TechRadar Gaming, and while relatively fresh to the role, he's been writing in a professional capacity for years. A Media, Writing and Production graduate, Rhys has prior experience creating written content for app developers, IT firms, toy sellers and the main TechRadar site. His true passions, though, lie in video games, TV, audio and home entertainment. When Rhys isn't on the clock, you'll usually find him logged into Final Fantasy 14, Halo Infinite or Sea of Thieves. See more Gaming news TechRadar Newsletter Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. You will receive a verification email shortly. There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again. MOST POPULARMOST SHARED1The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me2Blizzard made me explain Overwatch 2 smurfing to my mum for nothing3Nvidia RTX 4090 Ti reportedly canned due to sky-high power consumption4Apple October launches: the new devices we might see this month5RTX 4090 too expensive? Nvidia resurrects another old favorite1Best laptops for designers and coders 2The iPhone 14 Pro is made of the wrong stuff; the Pixel 7 proves that to me3Stop saying Mario doesn't have an accent in The Super Mario Bros. Movie4iPhone 15 tipped to come with an upgraded 5G chip5Google Pixel Tablet is what Apple should've done ages ago Technology Magazines (opens in new tab)● (opens in new tab)The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviewsFrom$12.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab) Other versions of this page are available with specific content for the following regions:Deutschland