Nintendo is getting ready to discontinue eShop support for the 3DS and Wii U in 40 countries.
Announced on the Nintendo support website, the closure is set to happen on July 31st 2020 and will affect countries that has limited eShop support, compared to countries like Japan, the UK and the US.
The countries affected are mostly Caribbean island nations and South American countries like Argentina, where users have been able to redownload, check for updates and redeem games. This means that if you live in one of these locations, (full list can be found on the website linked above) you’ll lose access to these functions on the 3DS and Wii U system.
Furthermore, any games that depend on the eShop will cease to function; the post did not elaborate on what these games are.
Nintendo offered a handful of answers of possible burning questions, including why they are choosing to make this decision. Their response was:
We constantly re-evaluate our business and make decisions based on a variety of factors.
This could be down to a number of reasons, but perhaps the most likely is that the service cost was outweighing the profits. That being said, a the end of the page, Nintendo answer the question on whether this regions will receive full eShops, to which they said:
We have nothing to announce on this topic.
Watch this space, hm?