Netflix is still without a doubt the most popular streaming service and it’s available on almost every platform, including Nintendo consoles.
At least for now. Nintendo is planning on discontinuing support for the two most recent consoles that actually allow you access to Netflix. The Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS. And all without having first allowed support for the Nintendo Switch. The company’s current popular console.
The good news for those that own and still use these consoles for Netflix, is that support isn’t gone just yet. It is however arriving this year so users should plan accordingly.
Netflix will stop working on the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS in June
While it has been discovered and confirmed by Nintendo that Netflix support will be discontinued on the Wii U and the 3DS soon, there’s still time to enjoy the benefits it gives you.
Nintendo’s support page that confirmed the discontinuation of the streaming service states that it won’t be leaving until June of this year. Specifically June 30. Which means you still have a little under six months to use it on those two platforms.
And although the Switch does not yet have support for Netflix, there’s still time. Time for it to arrive on the Switch before the June removal date on Nintendo’s older consoles.
The Netflix app has already been removed from the eShop
Netflix isn’t going to stop working on the Wii U or the 3DS for a while longer. It can no longer be downloaded though.
The app has already been removed from the eShop by Netflix. Which means you can’t install it on either of those older consoles if you didn’t already have it installed at some point.
Based on the wording in the support page though, you can re-install it if it was ever installed prior to these changes.
The question for users, though, is whether or not any of this matters to them. Surely there are still some users who watch Netflix through these older consoles. But it’s incredibly easy to stream shows from Netflix in any other number of ways. Affordably too.
All that has to be considered alongside the notion that the Wii U and the 3DS are probably not the best experiences in terms of watching Netflix. Nevertheless, it does immediately highlight that Netflix is still missing from where it makes the most sense in regards to Nintendo’s hardware.