Following Nintendo’s reduction of its 2014 forecast by 70%, stocks have dropped a frightening amount while gamers and investors look back at the self-implosion that has occurred. For one company, the Wii U’s failure was noticeable from the get-go.
Speaking to CVG, one EA source said that “Nintendo was dead to us very quickly”.
EA supported the Wii U at launch with several important titles including Mass Effect 3 and Need for Speed Most Wanted. Along with Ubisoft, it delivered the mainstream titles that it needed to appeal to gamers.
But it wasn’t appealing enough. All these titles sold poorly, thanks to them not substantiating themselves enough from their multiplatform variants and the early financial challenges of the console.
The Wii U isn’t dead, but complete disinterest from major publishers is usually the sign of the end. It’ll continue to deliver first-party titles that make it worth having for some consumers, but the explosion of third-party franchises during the last generation make it a worrying problem.
