Nintendo eShop down, apparently due to Monster Hunter Rise demo demand [Updated]

Nintendo has confirmed that the outage is now over and IGN has been able to access the Nintendo eShop (and download the Monster Hunter demo). The Nintendo eShop is currently down for unscheduled “emergency maintenance”, which may be due to demand for a Monster Hunter Rise demo release.

The eShop has been down for at least 4 hours at the time of writing, with Nintendo Japanese Customer Support Twitter Account repeatedly apologizing for the problems, but offering no time frame for a fix.

While neither Nintendo nor Capcom has specifically commented on the connection, the outage coincides with the release of the Monster Hunter Rise demo, which includes two quests and two tutorials for the upcoming Switch exclusive.

Yesterday’s Monster Hunter live stream revealed a number of new monsters and details about the game, including the fact that a new ability will allow you to ride monsters (an ability you can test out in the demo) .

The demo weighs in at 1.6 GB and quests can be played a maximum of 30 times before its February 1 closing date. If you can’t download, we have Great Izuchi Quest and Mizutsune Quest videos for you to check out.

If you want to buy the game before it arrives on March 26, here’s what’s in each edition of Monster Hunter Rise.

Joe Skrebels is IGN’s news editor. Follow him on Twitter. Any advice to give us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please email [email protected]