Much to the dismay of pirates everywhere, It appears that Nintendo is finally rolling out the infrastructure changes to their Content Delivery Network to put an end to apps like freeShop, Villain3DS, TikDevil, and FunKeyCIA, among others.

For those of you that missed out, in the recent 11.8.0-41 update for the Nintendo 3DS, several changes to how the NIM service handles downloading Nintendo 3DS software from the eShop were made. The main change involves sending an encrypted copy of the user's game ticket to their server for authentication. If the server finds the ticket is invalid, or no ticket is provided, the server could deny you access to the content files you are trying to retrieve.

Looks like 11.8.0 backports the Switch's aauth ideas to 3ds -- network comms now send an encrypted(?) copy of app ticket to the server.

They may not act on it immediately, but like on Switch this lets N perfectly detect pirate accesses vs normal ones, and ban however they like.

— Michael (@SciresM) July 31, 2018

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This level of granular per-title validation will effectively put an end to any software that relies on the open availability of content files on the Nintendo CDN to function, including freeShop, CIAngel, TikDevil, and even PC based clients such as Villain3DS, PlaiCDN, and FunKeyCIA to name a few.

However, up until earlier today, the server wasn't denying anyone downloads at all. However, multiple reputable sources have stated that the changes have begun to roll out and that it is unlikely that any workarounds will be found.

Because this followup round of changes is server side, this effects all firmware and all devices trying to download from the Nintendo CDN. Staying on 11.7 or below will not make freeShop continue to work, and before you ask, yes, software you already pirated is safe. (for now, anyway.)

Nintendo has finally put in place the server-side change to finish what 11.8.0 started. FreeShop and other 3DS piracy apps are now dead (probably forever).

— Devon Maloney (@plailect) August 9, 2018

At this time, it seems only various first-party Nintendo titles are affected, but it's probable that these changes will begin rolling out to all 3DS titles on the Nintendo CDN over time.

As of approximately 1 AM EST, August 22, 2018, the Nintendo CDN has applied this ticket validation method to over 2800 titles on their network.

Source and Ongoing Discussion
Related 3DBrew Page

Spoiler: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Will Staying on 11.7 help in any substantial way?
A: Not really. The bulk of the changes made are server side, meaning that they apply to all firmware, all platforms, everything trying to download 3DS content from the Nintendo CDN. I don't recommend updating on principle but that choice is yours to make.

Q: Do I have to delete the games I downloaded from freeShop to avoid being banned?
A: No. This ticket check is done only when downloading titles through the NIM Service on the 3DS. Not when launching games. Not when going online in games. Not when downloading or installing games through other means.

Q: What uses the NIM service to download from the Nintendo CDN?
A: The Official 3DS eShop, Official 3DS eShop Sleep Mode Downloads, and freeShop Sleep Mode Downloads. That last one is the only wild card here. We don't know what Nintendo might do if you upload an invalid game ticket to them through NIM. They could possibly use this ban you, but as of now, it doesn't seem like they are.

Q: Will there be a workaround for this in the future?
A: Almost certainly not. Don't count on it.

Q: Can you still download non-first-party 3DS games?
A: No, as of August 22, 2018, nearly all titles are requiring valid tickets to download. A complete list of titles that are blocked is available courtesy of @DMSalesman, here.

Q: Does any of this apply to Wii U content on the Nintendo CDN?
A: No. Nintendo hasn't updated the Wii U with any of this security, which they would have to do to implement this.

 

[Uiaad]

Its just a small bummer to lose that extra level of convenience. I had gotten used to no longer needing to pull my micro sd card in and out of my device. Ah well, not too bothered by having to move back to the old but still quite simple method of .cia installations.

You still dont have to bother pulling out your SD card ... just FTP it across

 

[WiiUBricker]

Does freeShop still work on older firmware versions?

 

[SonicRings]

Its just a small bummer to lose that extra level of convenience. I had gotten used to no longer needing to pull my micro sd card in and out of my device. Ah well, not too bothered by having to move back to the old but still quite simple method of .cia installations.

I bet people will start feeling nostalgic over .cia installs lol.

I personally never bothered with freeshop for large games because of how damn slow it was, I think it was actually faster to ftbrony the file onto my sd and then install with fbi. This was all so long ago.

 

[TurdPooCharger]

$9 for a 128GB micro SD seems like a scam to me haha

The cheapest is $26 if you live in Amazon tax free state and buy something else to get teh $35 free shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F2YQR8F/ref=twister_B07G8743R1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

You're just stating things you can do, and not describing why it's wrong. As we've explained, piracy is no different than buying used or borrowing. if you had the time and contacts, you could buy a used copy or borrow a copy of all those same games and not a dime would go to the devs in either case. not to mention, if you did, you still wouldnt have bought all those games because no normal person even has that kind of money to do so, so the devs still don't lose a dime from it.

I think @DeadSkullzJr was arguing from his point of view, that it's legally okay to borrow games from a friend or buy used from a game store because general society is okay with allowing both these options.

When it comes to copying digital property in this 21st century, piracy is harder to conceptualize because hard, physical goods weren't stolen. Downloading through freeShop was at the cost of Nintendo's finances upkeeping their servers and bandwidth.

Then again, Nintendo should have done a better securing their CDN server if they didn't want this to happen.

I suppose laws only matter if they're enforceable and whether one's morals are flexible. Right or wrong, this was the way things were.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Debating whether to go through the process to get my n3DS unbanned at this point, with it still being on 11.7 since I've just saw no point in taking an update that is so blatantly there to mess with people.

Yeah, whatever you do, avoid 11.8. It's a different beast than the updates before it, allowing Nintendo to supposedly track the games you install in the same way it can track Switch games.

 

[duffmmann]

You still dont have to bother pulling out your SD card ... just FTP it across

Oh! And I can also go watch paint dry! I've done this method and it is sooooo slow, way slower than .cia installing or even freeshop.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

I bet people will start feeling nostalgic over .cia installs lol.

I personally never bothered with freeshop for large games because of how damn slow it was, I think it was actually faster to ftbrony the file onto my sd and then install with fbi. This was all so long ago.

Nah, Freeshop was considerably faster than ftbrony. And not much slower than .cia installs with less steps at that, and when you would install a lot at once while you went to sleep, you really couldn't do any better than the convenience of the freeshop.

 

[Song of storms]

Nintendo did have to rework the eShop in order break freeShop, which is what they just did. I am actually shocked considering how much money this must have cost them to do for a system that should be EOL.

The 3DS is too successful to be EOF just yet. They might even make yet another version of the console.

 

[Uiaad]

Oh! And I can also go watch paint dry! I've done this method and it is sooooo slow, way slower than .cia installing or even freeshop.

Never had a problem with it myself

 

[weatMod]

$9 for a 128GB micro SD seems like a scam to me haha

i will let you know

Spoiler

well ,it was really like $24 but i had WF promotion $10 credit and browser add on promotion $5 credit

 

[duffmmann]

Never had a problem with it myself

It works, I have no problem with it in that regard, but its considerably slower than the other options.
Frankly I hope we see the return of the short lived QR code .cia installations through FBI, I kinda forgot about them, because they only started to really be a thing right before Freeshop popped up. It's a quicker way than FTP installs as well, and it has that same bonus of not needing to remove your micro sd card.

 

[SonicRings]

i will let you know

Spoiler

well ,it was really like $24 but i had WF promotion $10 credit and browser add on promotion $5 credit

Ah, that's a great deal then. If the speeds are good for phone use and the deal's valid in Canada you should totally pm it to me. As for a 3DS, you'll never have to worry about space again haha.

 

[The Catboy]

The 3DS is too successful to be EOF just yet. They might even make yet another version of the console.

Do consider, 11.6 was released in January and they went complete radio silence from there. Nintendo's previous updates hinted heavily towards EOLing the system. With 11.7 only updating to be in compliance GDPR, it didn't seem like Nintendo really had much plans for the 3DS. 11.8 was not an expected update and then updating the eShop mechanics this late in the game was also not expected.

 

[MikaDubbz]

Do consider, 11.6 was released in January and they went complete radio silence from there. Nintendo's previous updates hinted heavily towards EOLing the system. With 11.7 only updating to be in compliance GDPR, it didn't seem like Nintendo really had much plans for the 3DS. 11.8 was not an expected update and then updating the eShop mechanics this late in the game was also not expected.

Also consider that Nintendo announced a first party 3DS title to come out in 2019 at the beginning of this year. They're sending mixed signals in regard to how they view the 3DS and its end of life to say the least.

 

[FateForWindows]

Does freeShop still work on older firmware versions?

No.

 

[duffmmann]

No.

This answer is incorrect, I'm still on 11.6 and it still boots up properly and allows me to install 3rd party titles. Soon third party titles will be blocked too, but right now only seems to be first party titles that can't be downloaded through the freeshop, and you don't need to be on the latest firmware to use it either.

 

[mranonymous]

Aw damn. When I heard about this, I stocked up on all of the essentials. I can’t really think of anything else I need, but there will inevitably be something.

The good thing is that, unlike Switch, there is a fast and reliable networking option with our PC’s so throwing CIA’s onto the SD card through WiFi is as efficient as pie.

 

[dAVID_]

Now we will manually have to scavenge the internet in search of the cia file.

 

[ihaveahax]

This answer is incorrect, I'm still on 11.6 and it still boots up properly and allows me to install 3rd party titles. Soon third party titles will be blocked too, but right now only seems to be first party titles that can't be downloaded through the freeshop, and you don't need to be on the latest firmware to use it either.

The answer is correct in that it's not different from 11.8. It will work on latest just fine, for as long as all the titles are not protected. Once all of them are, it will not work on any version, due to server-side changes.

 

[GuyInDogSuit]

Rest in pepperonis.

 

[jt_1258]

dam, and freeshop was actually a little better then eshop when it came to speed of browsing through available titles :/