Nintendo’s online infrastructure couldn’t handle the load and crumbled due to an influx of new gamers on Christmas day, and Pokémon fans are going to suffer the consequences.
The publisher revealed that it is delaying the launch of Pokémon Bank and Pokémon Transporter. These two apps will enable Pikachu lovers to save their pocket monsters in the cloud so they can use them in other games in the franchise. Nintendo originally intended to launch the apps for 3DS today, but that’s no longer going to happen.
“Nintendo and The Pokémon Company International have postponed the launch of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter due to a large volume of traffic to the Nintendo Network service,” reads a post on Nintendo’s website.
Starting on Christmas day, people overwhelmed Nintendo’s online systems. Customers couldn’t access the eShop downloadable-game stores on Wii U, 3DS, Wii, or DS throughout Wednesday and much of Thursday. Players also couldn’t get logged into the Nintendo Network to create their online profiles, which the Pokémon Bank will require.
These connectivity problems led Nintendo to announce a 12-hour period of maintenance that will take its eShop offline starting at 1 p.m. Pacific today.
“We truly regret the inconvenience, and wish to reassure everyone that providing a solution is our top priority,” reads the Nintendo post. “We apologize for the delay and thank you for your continued patience.”
The company did not provide a new launch date for Pokémon Bank and Pokémon Transporter. We’ve reached out to Nintendo for more information, and we’ll update this post with the publisher’s response.
Pokémon Bank is a subscription-based service. Nintendo will provide gamers with full access to the app for the first 30 days. After that, people will have to pay $5 per year for continued access.
