Speaking to Game Informer, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed that the publisher is getting out the “mature games” business on the Wii U. But let’s face it, the writing has been on the wall ever since Ubisoft pushed back the Wii U launch of Watch Dogs. The open-world game launched for every other possible platform in May, but Ubisoft delayed the Wii U release to some indeterminate point in the Fall. However, Guillemot was firm in stating that the Wii U version will be released: “[Watch Dogs] is coming to Wii U. It will be the only mature game we publish on it.”
Guillemot’s “mature game” clarification was his way of saying that the publisher has no intention of completely abandoning the Wii U. The Just Dance series, for example, is still a big seller for Ubisoft and Just Dance 2015 will be released for the Wii U this Fall. So why do mature games (like the scrapped ZombiU sequel) get the axe? It’s just business, says Guillemot.
“It’s very simple,” Guillemot says. “What we see is that Nintendo customers don’t buy Assassin’s Creed. Last year, we sold in very small numbers.” In fact, across Ubisoft’s portfolio, Nintendo Wii U sales only represent three percent of the total for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2014.
Ouch, but it sounds like this is all part of a development restructuring that Ubisoft is implementing across the board. The CEO also revealed that all PS3 and Xbox 360 development will likely stop at the studio’s development houses in 2015. “After 2015, it will be hard for us to create games for those systems,” he said.
