Months after the initial announcement, Nintendo has officially removed its battle royale spin on the arcade classic Pac-Man 99 from the Switch e-Shop along with shutting down the game’s servers. This isn’t the first time Nintendo’s shut down a game like this, with Super Mario Bros. 35 getting shut down and delisted after only a year in service.
Nintendo’s latest attempt at putting the trendy battle royale mechanic into a classic game in its catalog, F-Zero 99, has been a modest success since its surprise launch after the most recent Nintendo Direct. As is the trend in recent years, though, the beginning of one battle-royale game means the end of another, which is why Pac-Man 99 has officially been shut down after about two and a half years on the market.
Pac-Man 99 Taken Down From Switch Store
Players have had some time to process the shutdown of Pac-Man 99 since the initial announcement that this would be happening came courtesy of Nintendo back in May. Today, that announcement was officially finalized, and the only way to play Pac-Man 99 now is through the game’s offline modes that came with paid DLC. There is some understandable frustration among Pac-Man enthusiasts that a game with a positive reception like this would be taken down, but Nintendo’s recent shutdowns of the 3DS and Wii U e-Shops would suggest the company isn’t particularly interested in fan reception to these moves.
The trend of shutting down an older battle royale title in favor of the launch of a new one could wind up biting Nintendo in the long run. The pattern would suggest that F-Zero 99 has, at the longest, until sometime in 2025 before the game will likely be unceremoniously wiped from the platform. It could prove tough for players to become invested in games like this if they’re under the assumption that their accomplishments will all be deleted within a relatively short amount of time.
