One dedicated Splatoon Wii U player is still online even with matchmaking shut down

On April 8, Nintendo shut down online functionality for the 3DS and Wii U, meaning you can no longer use online features for any games released for those platforms. Despite this, however, a single Splatoon fan on Wii U has managed to stay online.

As spotted by GamesRadar, Twitter user Lcd101, who identifies themselves as “the final Splatoon 1 player online,” revealed on April 9 they were somehow able to stay connected to the Nintendo Network, sharing images of the game’s matchmaking to prove it. Strangely, maps would continue to rotate as Splatoon tried and failed to find other players for Lcd101 to match against.

It wasn’t until April 23, 15 days after the Nintendo Network shutdown, that Lcd101 was finally booted from the lobby, meaning Splatoon 1‘s matchmaking servers are well and truly dead. However, Lcd101 is still able to access the shops, which require an online connection, and the news updates from Callie and Marie continue to run as well. “I am still online, but the lobby gives me the error code for maintenance, 106-0811. I intend to stay online in this state for as long as possible,” tweeted Lcd101.

At this point, I’m just curious to see how much longer Lcd101 can hold on for. Sure, there’s nothing for them to do with Splatoon‘s online features disabled, but there’s something oddly fascinating seeing one player standing alone in the video game equivalent of a ghost town. Like we’re getting a peek behind the curtain at something we shouldn’t be allowed to see anymore. At some point, though, Lcd101 will be kicked out, well and truly putting Splatoon 1 to rest, at least in an official capacity.

You’d think fans would have left the original Splatoon long ago, especially with Splatoon 3 not only being the current hotness, but also on a more popular and widely available console. However, it sounds like not everyone has been eager to abandon Splatoon 1 and thus have formed their own workaround to keep playing even in 2024. In preparation for the 3DS and Wii U’s online shutdown, a group of people have created Pretendo, which essentially provides alternate servers for games like Splatoon 1. It is still in beta, though, and requires you to hack your Wii U to get it working, but it’s great to see regular fans preserving games and content that otherwise would’ve died, such as Dragon Quest 7‘s DLC maps.