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

​

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.

 

[Deleted User]

I was just about to say, "They protected their own stuff, but left everyone else high and dry?", but then I saw that it SHOULD be rolling out to others soon.

Still, end of an (particularly unique) era of piracy.

 

[CeeDee]

At this time, it seems only 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.

That's kind of odd. I'm sure it'll roll out to everyone else's over time, but for now, I wonder why they chose to only block theirs.

Edit: The titlekeys site is parked! Heh, it really is the end of an era.

 

[Ryccardo]

Nah, Wii U is still all open download, I doubt they care enough to update that because that'd mean updating the Wii U and that's like, the biggest waste of effort and money ever at this point.

It's worse: it would mean admitting they really made that console...

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

That's kind of odd. I'm sure it'll roll out to everyone else's over time, but for now, I wonder why they chose to only block theirs.

I bet they're doing it manually (after all, the same server hosts system titles and/or other consoles) and they just had to start somewhere (and knowing that most people buy Nintendo for 1st and 2nd party...)

Maybe, albeit unlikely, there could be some contract formality where they can't "change the way eShop titles are distributed" without some warning or confirmation by the authors?

 

[NFates]

The end is nigh!

So back to the old school days of someone buys a game, converts it to a .cia and distributes it out to the masses.

It's similar to freeShop that way, but instead of dumping files you dump the whole game. Heh.

 

[soplaytk]

wait so im gonna banned i installed mario kart 7 like 5 or 6 days ago what should i do

 

[NFates]

wait so im gonna banned i installed mario kart 7 like 5 or 6 days ago what should i do

Calm down, install through .cia, acknowledge that you might or might not get banned and enjoy the ride.

 

[gamecaptor]

It's similar to freeShop that way, but instead of dumping files you dump the whole game. Heh.

With GodMode9 this is very easy!

 

[soplaytk]

Calm down, install through .cia, acknowledge that you might or might not get banned and enjoy the ride.

u mean like through fbi

 

[Ryccardo]

u mean like through fbi

FBI is just one of the title managers for the 3DS, and just saying "install through FBI" is ambiguous (as FBI 2 also supports installing from CDN)

 

[soplaytk]

FBI is just one of the title managers for the 3DS, and just saying "install through FBI" is ambiguous (as FBI 2 also supports installing from CDN)

so im screwed right i should just delete all my games cuse those the only games i have

 

[Ryccardo]

so im screwed right i should just delete all my games cuse those the only games i have

You do not have to delete anything, just understand that you will not be able to redownload non-original games from Nintendo servers (on console or otherwise)

 

[soplaytk]

You do not have to delete anything, just understand that you will not be able to redownload non-original games from Nintendo servers (on console or otherwise)

oh ok

 

[foxtochop]

so im screwed right i should just delete all my games cuse those the only games i have

You are very far from screwed. I also installed games through freeshop. Nintendo is not looking for people who once downloaded via freeshop. Nintendo now is just blocking non-eShop accesses to its CDN.

If you don't want to get banned install through cia files and avoid going online.

If you want to can play online, but remember: don't cheat. Although, there's a very tiny risk to play cias online without cheating.

But if you wan't to cheat online prepare for an instaban.

 

[CheatFreak47]

The only thing this change is downloading from freeShop in the future. At this time Nintendo is only checking tickets when you attempt to download a title from the eShop. If you use freeShop or a CDN downloader it doesn't do this handshake and thus you are denied access to the content (a 403 forbidden error).

FreeShop does attempt this handshake on 11.8 though when using sleep download because Sleep Download goes through NIM to fetch the title, and that's likely the only thing you can do that may result in a ban! (though there is no evidence that any bans have happened due to this, yet.)

Regardless, freeShop appears to be down right now anyway due to a particular domain name being parked, and maybe that's for the best, frankly. I think it's long past time for this to end.

 

[soplaytk]

ok cool thanks im glad i have my mario kart 7 and pokemon ultra sun im fine i just cant go online on them forever right

 

[kingaz]

revolutionary in making piracy too easy. It brought some of the worst people out, the lazy pirates. I am happy Nintendo is shutting this down, because it means everyone who wants to pirate has to put in the effort to do so.

Completely true, but the upshot of Freeshop was that it punished Nintendo for their ass-backwards approach to digital distribution. I can think of no better way to drag Nintendo into the 21st century than having their own servers giving away their stuff for free.

 

[Sketchy1]

but like, cant we still fall back on that iso site and whatnot?

 

[CheatFreak47]

but like, cant we still fall back on that iso site and whatnot?

Sure can!

ok cool thanks im glad i have my mario kart 7 and pokemon ultra sun im fine i just cant go online on them forever right

You can even go online with them, just don't cheat online and you'll be fine.

 

[Sketchy1]

Sure can!

yOuR mOvE NiNtEnDo

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

kinda makes me wonder why they did this now though. like, why not 3 years ago when this would have actually mattered?

 

[ItsKipz]

Nintendo is really stepping up their anti-piracy game - and that's a good thing, they can apply what they're learning to anti-cheat and stuff like that.