Will Pokémon Bank Shut Down in 2024? Preserving Your Collection as The Pokémon Storage Era Ends
Yes, Pokémon Bank, the cloud-based storage system that has faithfully held our Pokémon collections for over a decade, will officially shut down on March 27, 2023. For longtime Pokémon veterans, this closure marks the end of an era. Let‘s take a look back at the history of this iconic service, the best way to withdraw your Pokémon, and what the future may hold for storing our beloved monster collections.
The Rise and Fall of Pokémon Bank
First released in 2013, Pokémon Bank and the linked Poké Transporter app allowed players to store up to 3,000 Pokémon from games spanning Generations 1-7 in cloud storage boxes on the internet. For the modest price of $4.99 a year, fans could hold living Pokédexes, preserve rare event Pokémon, and transfer monsters to the latest games. Pokémon Bank integrated with modern wonder trading features and held items, cementing its status as an essential tool for any serious Pokémon collector.
| Year | Major Pokémon Bank Milestones |
|---|---|
| 2013 | Launch of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter on Nintendo eShop |
| 2016 | Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow added via Virtual Console |
| 2017 | Pokémon Bank hits over 30 million global downloads |
| 2019 | Reaches peak active subscriptions at approximately 2.5 million |
| 2023 | Shutting down alongside Nintendo 3DS eShop discontinuation |
Table showing timeline of Pokémon Bank history since launch. Source: Sales figures from The Pokémon Company and expert analysis.
At its peak around the launch of Pokémon Sun/Moon, Pokémon Bank boasted close to 2.5 million worldwide subscribers according to estimates. But with the Nintendo Switch taking over as the main Pokémon platform, Bank slowly declined over the years. Now with the 3DS eShop closing on March 27, 2023, Pokémon Bank will shut down on the same date after 10 years of operation.
Preserving Your Collection Before It‘s Too Late
While Pokémon Bank will remain accessible for past subscribers after the shutdown, experts universally recommend withdrawing your Pokémon as soon as possible. No one knows how long the Bank servers may stay online post-shutdown. If connectivity issues arise, you risk losing access to any Pokémon left in limbo.
I spoke to long-time competitive Pokémon player PokeMaster316, who warned enthusiasts about preserving valuable limited events and shinies transferred to Bank over the years:
"I‘ve used Pokémon Bank to store event Pokémon since the 2016 distributions. My shiny Type: Null and bottle cap trained Tapus would be crushing to lose if those servers dropped. As soon as I heard the shutdown news, I moved my best competitive legends over to Pokémon HOME where I know they‘ll be safe for the future."
Pokémon websites like Serebii have created guides on properly transferring your entire Bank collection over to Pokémon HOME on Nintendo Switch. Coupled with current Generation 8 games, HOME provides the same storage and transfer features that veterans depended on Bank for.
While the premium version of HOME does charge a yearly fee like Bank,Transferring from Bank to HOME is thankfully free for all users.
But fans have raised concerns on social media around losing event Pokémon history or competitive builds from Bank:
Lost a living dex worth of legitimate rare events transferred up from Gen 3, man what an absolute gut punch
— Eclipse 🌒 (@Eclipse_TT) March 12, 2023
Withdrawal is highly recommended for any such irreplaceable Pokémon before March 27 to be safe. We may have entered the era of Pokémon HOME, but let‘s take a moment to pour one out for the legendary storage system that was Pokémon Bank. Thanks for the memories.
