Smash 4 Online Shut Down – When Does Server Turn Off for Wii U and 3DS?

The Smash Bros series spans multiple consoles, with quite a few classic bits of Nintendo hardware still getting played at major fighting game esports events. A couple of titles in the series are about to get a whole lot harder to play though, with the Smash 4 Online getting shut down pretty soon! Nintendo has decided to start turning off some parts of their old hardware. Both the Wii U and 3DS consoles will be losing their online next year.

From time to time, older consoles will start to lose some elements of support. Often this is their shop services getting shut down, but servers as a whole going offline can render entire games unplayable. Luckily, there are plenty of offline content in Smash 4 Wii U and 3DS. However, fighting against similarly ranked players will get harder. While LANs and offline practice will always be there, Smash 4 Online will be shut down with this move.

Smash 4 Online Shutting Down in April

Nintendo has recently announced they’ll be shutting down the online for their last two generations of consoles. The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will both have their online service shut off in April 2024. All online games will not be playable after this date. This includes quite a few popular games, but for fighting game fans there’s one title that it’s going to hit.

Most titles from these platforms have been replaced by newer ones on the Switch. Smash is a game where people frequently spend a long time in older installments in the series.

Thanks to fan work, even Smash Melee is still playable online. While Smash for Wii U isn’t quite on the same level as one of the best fighting games of all time, losing online servers is a shame for those who still like to mix things up with the older title.