Japanese newspaper Nikkei published a report claiming that Nintendo would be halting their production of the Wii U console in favor of focusing their efforts and resources on the upcoming Nintendo NX. However, a Nintendo representative has officially denied these claims in a report from IT Media (via Kotaku).
"This isn't an announcement from our company," explained Nintendo's spokesperson. "From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production of the Wii U is scheduled to continue."
While the spokesperson's statement indicates that Nintendo still intends to market the Wii U until the eventual launch of the NX, similar to how Sony still produces and sells the PS3 even when the PS4 has been out in the market, the report from Kotaku points out that Nikkei is notable for having a very good track record when it comes to making these claims.
The original claim from Nikkei was that several companies have already stopped producing the components for the Wii U as a move to avoid having too many excess Wii U units when the NX finally hits the market. It is common for last-generation consoles to struggle to hit remarkable sales numbers when a newer model has been launched.
It is also explained that the Wii U is being discontinued in favor of the NX not only because of the poor sales of the former but also because developers have expressed difficulty in making games for the Wii U due to its design philosophy.
Many companies such as Ubisoft have pulled out from developing games for the Wii U, and according to the report, the console has only sold roughly 12 million units worldwide, a tenth of the total number of sales that the original Wii achieved during its lifetime.
Whether Nintendo truly intends to halt production on the Wii U or not, the company has not revealed their plans regarding the NX and its launch date as this may shed some light regarding the end of the Wii U lifespan.
