Nintendo giveth and Nintendo taketh away. This morning's announcement of Pikmin 3 Deluxe Edition on Switch came alongside an unceremonious axing of the last-gen version of the game.
Pikmin 3 has been delisted from the Wii U eShop ahead of its October 30 launch on Switch. As Nintendo Everything reports, there's no way to buy Pikmin 3 digitally directly from Nintendo right now. Nintendo did the same thing ahead of the Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze re-release.
Of course, anyone with a physical copy of Pikmin 3 on Wii U can still play it. The same goes for anyone who previously bought it digitally through the eShop. There just aren't any new sales anymore as Nintendo pivots from a $20 last-gen version to a $60 current-gen version.
The continued existence of a cheaper Pikmin 3 on Wii U would probably have an absolutely negligible effect on sales of the upcoming Deluxe edition. But, this isn't exactly a new business practice for Nintendo so it doesn't really take anyone by surprise. For now, your only Wii U option is to buy something physical; fortunately, it's still selling for a reasonable price on the secondhand market.
Pikmin 3 removed from the Wii U eShop [Nintendo Everything]
