Nintendo has taken the Wii U titles ‘Mario Kart 8’ and ‘Splatoon’ offline due to security concerns

Nintendo has pulled the Wii U games Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon down indefinitely in order to address security concerns. “This network service is now unavailable due to urgent maintenance necessary to resolve an online play vulnerability,” says a statement posted on Nintendo’s website around 11:30 p.m. ET on Thursday. “We do not yet know when network services will be restored. We sincerely regret for any trouble this has caused.”

According to VGC, the vulnerability might be tied to an exploit that allows an attacker to take control of a victim’s PC merely by matching them in an online multiplayer game. Dataminer OatmealDome believes the problem is “very probably” caused by ENLBufferPwn.

Previously, Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS was vulnerable to the vulnerability. Numerous Switch titles, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo Switch Sports, and Splatoon 2 and 3, were also presumably affected. Nintendo appears to have patched all of those games to safeguard them against the vulnerability.

ENLBufferPwn is shown in action on Mario Kart 7 in a video shared by YouTuber PabloMK7 in December. It’s used to install modified firmware on the console in question. PabloMK7 stated on GitHub that it is “theoretically conceivable” to steal an account or credit card information and record a victim using the 3DS’s microphone and cameras.

Mario Kart 8 was the best-selling game on the Wii U, selling approximately 8.5 million units. The original Splatoon sold over 5 million copies. Those who are still playing games on the defunct system may be sad that the internet services are temporarily absent, but it appears Nintendo was forced to take them offline for the time being.

The problem was discovered just a few weeks before Nintendo shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops. Owners of the systems will no longer be able to make purchases on the digital marketplaces after March 27th, although they will be able to download already purchased titles. Meanwhile, Nintendo has recently released the latest courses that will be available in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch as part of the Booster Course Pass starting next week.