The apparent failure follows unusually high strain on other gaming services as people stay home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network had service issues on March 15th and 16th respectively. Steam, meanwhile, smashed its concurrent user record with a reported 20.3 million players online. Whether or not the surge of home use is directly responsible for Nintendo’s problem, it’s clear that gaming services will have to brace for added strain over the weeks ahead.
