Nintendo plans online Mii Maker, following death of Miitomo

As it prepares to shut down its social networking app Miitomo, Nintendo has revealed that it will give fans a new way to create and share their personal Mii characters. A browser-based Mii Maker tool will launch by May’s end, according to an in-game news alert.

Below is how Nintendo explains the forthcoming online Mii Maker feature, from a notification sent out to Miitomo players on April 30:

With the end of Miitomo service, it will no longer be possible to create or edit Mii characters using Miitomo, but we are planning to add a feature in late May 2018 which will enable you to create and edit Mii characters for your Nintendo account via your web browser of choice.

In order to add this feature, we will be performing system migration maintenance from the end of Miitomo service until late May 2018. During this period, you will not be able to change your Mii character set to your Nintendo Account (including clothes and accessories). Additionally, changes made to the Mii characters for [your] Nintendo Network ID will not be applied to your Nintendo Account Mii character.

While you can create an entirely new character, you can also continue to use the same Mii you played Miitomo with, Nintendo said. Unfortunately, any of those nice clothes you acquired for your Mii while playing Miitomo will not carry over to your Nintendo Account.

Two things: For starters, it’s surprising that it’s taken this long for Nintendo to give us a way to make our Mii characters online. And second, Nintendo’s commitment to keeping the Miis alive is a reminder of how much they’ve faded from the spotlight since the Wii U days. Following the death of both Miiverse and Miitomo, as well as Nintendo Switch’s buried Mii editor, Miis may start seeming like a relic from Nintendo’s past.

But the company hasn’t given up on them yet; we’ll have to see what this Mii Maker when it’s available at the end of May. Miitomo, meanwhile, shuts down at 12 a.m. PT on May 9.