Holy smaller video game, Batman! Warner Bros has confirmed that the newly revealed multiplayer modes for Batman: Arkham Origins won’t be included in the Wii U version of the game. As spotted by Eurogamer and IGN, the official press release accompanying the multiplayer announcement indicated that Arkham Origins‘ multiplayer modes will only be available on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.
According to IGN, the press release was later edited and re-sent with the paragraph listing multiplayer platforms removed, though the game’s publisher Warner Bros eventually confirmed to press that multiplayer will skip the Wii U.
“MP will be available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC,” a Warner Bros spokesperson said in a statement sent to both outlets. “The team is focusing development efforts on platforms with the largest MP audience.”
The decision is no doubt tied to lagging sales for Nintendo’s new console. While Nintendo is turning a profit thanks to strong 3DS sales, Wii U sales have been pretty terrible, with just 160,000 Wii Us sold worldwide between April and June of this year.
Arkham Origins will be the first Arkham game to feature multiplayer. The multiplayer is being developed by the British studio Splash Damage, while the single-player is being made by Warner Bros. Montreal, the same studio responsible for last year’s Wii U port of Arkham City. I had a chance to play some of the multiplayer last week, and I liked it. The mode I demoed was a three-team, asymmetrical setup featuring two teams of thugs and one team of Batman and Robin.
We’ve reached out to both Nintendo and Warner Bros for more information, specifically whether the Wii U version of the game will be any cheaper than the other versions, given that it’s missing a substantial chunk of content. I’ll update if and when we hear more.
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14 responses to “Wii U Arkham Origins Won’t Have Multiplayer, But Will It Cost Less?”
Why drop the price, when you can sell half the game at full price and sell them ‘surprise’ multiplayer as DLC later on?
“muhahahahah” – Warner Bros
I would have thought that it’s because Wii U isn’t a very large multiplayer console. I’ve always seen Nintendo games as single player experiences.
Seriously? What a crock of shit.
I’ll be playing on PC mind you, but I think it still reeks.
Lower… Price? Does the retail games industry even know what these words mean?
How many units did Arkham City sell on Wii U? I’m surprised they’re even doing a port as it’ll be a straight port and the people lining up to buy Arkham Origins will be more likely to buy it on the 360 or PS3, even if they have a Wii U.
Just checked it out actually, on the Wii U Arkham City has apparently sold 160,000 units compared to 4.42 million on the PS3, 3.88 million on the 360 and 430,000 on PC. Yeah it was released way before on those systems but you’d have to expect a similar story with Origins
Those PC numbers probably don’t count sales on Steam, do they? Well anyway, the team that did the Wii U Arkham City port is doing this game’s single player, so they actually probably have more experience working with the Wii U than most devs, so if these guys don’t do it, nobody else will (which is pretty much the case). If they were doing the MP part as well they’d probably do it on Wii U as well.
Imagine if COD: Ghosts doesn’t have online multiplayer on Wii U. That’d be the real meltdown.
whoa, this fucking sucks.
This issue seems to be self-perpetuating. The longer Nintendo consoles have the reputation of not being ‘hardcore’ or not being able to manage/suitable for online multiplayer, the more developers and (probably more to the point) publishers won’t implement those kind of features or develop those sorts of games – which then of course continues to exacerbate the issue. Nintendo’s insistence on friend codes etc. doesn’t help either, however.
It’s fair if Nintendo don’t want to compete directly, and I think they may have said something along those lines at some stage with the Wii U launch (I’m a bit hazy on that though) – but I think its important to note that the perception of Nintendo consoles as ‘soft’ is multi-faceted.
If the decision was solely about lagging console sales then it probably stands to reason that the game would not be released at all.
Why even bother porting it at all if it’s not going to be the whole product? I might’ve considered getting it for Wii U but now I’d feel ripped off since it’s the incomplete version.
What’s this big focus on multiplayer these days? What happened to the days of playing a game single player? Of enjoying a game because it’s good, not because of the multiplayer? I don’t play multiplayer, at all, and I still find games are pretty much fun as fuck. That being said, it’s the Wii U. Who cares about that shit. Seriously?
Am I the only who thinks that if you buy 1) Arkham b) Nintendo for the multiplayer, you’re doing it wrong?
Sure, it sucks. But I’ve gotta admit, it doesn’t affect me at all. I wouldn’t play multiplayer Batman no matter what system it was on. As long as the graphics are on par I’ll pick up the WiiU version.
WiiU should actually be better graphics.
So 360 it is then. Shame.