Nintendo Servers Down: eShop Crashes After 'Smash Ultimate' 3.0 Update

UPDATE (11:15 a.m. EDT): Nintendo confirms the Nintendo eShop can now be accessed but there may be some players who experience errors.

Nintendo's servers are seemingly down.

Just when the version 3.0 update for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate goes live - along with the newest addition to the game's expansive roster, Persona 5's Joker - fans are not able to download or access the Nintendo eShop.

According to Down Detector, the Nintendo eShop went down as of 9:17 p.m. EDT.

Nintendo posted an update about the eShop situation on its official Twitter account within the hour, which you can read below.

What appears when players try to access the eShop is this message: "Error Code: 2137-8056 A server communication error has occurred. Please try again later.

If you press details, the message continues and reads "Ther server is currently undergoing maintenance. Please try again later" with an approximate return time of 10 p.m.

UPDATE (11:09 p.m. EDT) Nintendo's servers are still offline. The popularity of the patch has to do with the introduction of the new character Joker, as well as the addition of the new Stage Builder mode and performance tweaks for many members of Smash Ultimate's hefty roster of playable characters. For more details about the 3.0 patch, check out the full patch notes, here.

The player base for Smash Ultimate is signficant. Its the fastest-selling title on a Nintendo console ever, a major achievement alongside the Japanese gamesmaker's many household names, including Mario and Donkey Kong. Smash Ultimate's U.S. sales surpassed 3 million units in its first 11 days. In its first six weeks in release, it sold more than 12 million units worldwide, according to gamesindustry.biz.

UPDATE (12:45 a.m. EDT) The Nintendo server outage has continued for more than three hours. After acknowledging the situation shortly after 10 p.m. EDT, the official Nintendo Twitter account has yet to issue any further updates. "Nintendo Servers" remains a trending topic on Twitter, with users still reporting difficulties downloading the Smash Ultimate 3.0 patch.

Smash and Persona fans on the social media platform wasted no time in voicing their annoyance at the server woes. One placed the blame on another member of the Persona 5 cast, suggesting that the Phantom Thieves' navigator character, Futaba, may have brought down the eShop with her formidable hacking skills.

Meanwhile, Game Informer editor Imran Khan joked that the outage might have had something to do with the retirement of Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime earlier this week.

Another Nintendo fan took a more analog approach to the issue, translating various iterations of the error message into Smash-style moves, making the outage a fearsome combatant in its own right.

UPDATE (8:17 a.m. EDT) Eleven hours after initial reports of the Nintendo server outage surfaced, the company has yet to issue an official update on the situation. While a fresh wave of Twitter chatter about Joker and his persona, Arsene, suggests some Nintendo Switch users have managed to download the Smash Ultimate 3.0 update, other players continue to report issues accessing the eShop. (Don't underestimate the Phantom Thieves, Nintendo!)