The Nintendo Wii U’s online functionality has gone on maintenance today due to a concern with the security of the games Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon. The Nintendo website states that this maintenance started today at 4:30 a.m. and has no confirmed end date. The reason for this unknown amount of time is as follows according to Nintendo:
“This network service is currently unavailable due to urgent maintenance required to fix a vulnerability related to online play. We do not yet have information on when network services can be restored. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Game Developer notes the impact these server maintenance may have on fans of these two games. While Mario Kart 8 has port on the Switch that is getting updated to this day, with DLC being released as soon as within the next week, Splatoon is a different story. While the sequels of Splatoon are on the Switch, the only way to play the original version of the game online is through the Wii U.
This exploit is not something to ignore, since Gamerant remarks that a notable dataminer named OatmealDome posted more details about the security issue on Twitter. OatmealDome explains that the problem is from the ENLBufferPwn exploit. This exploit allows hackers to take over other peoples’ consoles solely by connecting to the online functionality.
This is not the first time this exploit has been a problem for Nintendo, as many of their previous titles have had this issue. According to Engadget, Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS was able to be exploited this way. More recently, games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo Switch Sports and Splatoon 2 and 3 were all able to be exploited by ENLBufferPwn. These games have all seemingly been patched to withstand the effects of this exploit, though it does seem to be a recurring issue with multiple consoles. Nintendo seems to have experience in fixing this exploit, since there have been multiple other consoles exploited by this issue, so only time will tell when Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon are fixed for the Wii U.