Nintendo is bringing its Club Nintendo service to an end after over a decade.
The rewards system, which began in North America in 2002 under its previous name of Nintendo VIP 24:7, allowed owners of Nintendo consoles and games to redeem codes bundled in with Nintendo products in order to receive gifts from the gaming giant, which typically ranged from tote bags to downloadable games and other assorted goodies. However, now Nintendo is planning a new service for their fans, meaning that Club Nintendo as we know it will be coming to an end on September 30th, with users being unable to register or redeem your points for items.
Also See: The Last of Us 2 Has Been Put on Hold
Nintendo issued a statement regarding Club Nintendo’s closure, which reads:
Thank you for your continued loyalty to Nintendo.
We launched Club Nintendo 6 years ago in North America, and we’re grateful for all of the feedback that our members have provided on your experiences with our products.
In order to focus on planning for a new customer loyalty program for our fans, we’ve decided to wind-down the Club Nintendo program. We are deeply thankful to our members for being a part of Club Nintendo for all of these years.
We will share details about our new program at a later date. For now, please see the schedule below for information on the discontinuation timeframe for Club Nintendo.
All Coins will be deleted when Club Nintendo accounts are closed on July 1, 2015. As a result, to give our members the best opportunity to use their Coins, we will add dozens of downloadable games and a limited quantity of exclusive reward items to the rewards catalog in February. In addition, as a small token of appreciation for your loyalty, all Club Nintendo members will receive a free download code for Flipnote Studio 3D in February 2015. Please visit here for information on the software and how to get the download code.
Club Nintendo will be gradually phased out over the course of the year, with products being ineligible to register with the program after January 20th and April 31st being the last day to register for a Club Nintendo account, register products with the service and earn Coins.
I’m sad to see Club Nintendo go as it always made for fun fan service, though over the years it has certainly struggled with the quality of the products it offered fans, particularly those outside of the US. Hopefully the new customer loyalty program Nintendo puts in place will be more accommodating for those living outside the US, and will give us some more great deals.
