Pokémon Bank will be free for a while when 3DS eShop shuts down

Hallelujah

After the recent news that the 3DS and Wii U eShops would be shutting down in March 2023, many wondered what would happen to Pokémon Bank, a paid service which allows you to store and transfer Pokémon across 3DS games, and transfer them to Bank’s Switch equivalent, Pokémon Home. Now, we have answers.

The Pokémon Company has announced that, following the closure of the Nintendo 3DS’s eShop in late March, Pokémon Bank will become free for some time, allowing users to transfer Pokémon up to Pokémon Home. There’s no set end date to this, but it will reportedly be announced in the future.

Unfortunately, a person will not be able to download Pokémon Bank after the eShop updates, so be sure to download it now while you still can, so you can use it for free after the shutdown.

Oliver Brandt

Deputy Editor, sometimes-reviewer, and Oxford comma advocate. If something's published on Vooks, there's a good chance I looked over it first. I spend way too much on games and use way too many em dashes.