Less than two years after vowing to deliver on an “unprecedented partnership” with Nintendo, gaming giant EA is quiet on the Wii U front.
“We have no games in development for the Wii U currently,” company spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku yesterday. He did not rule out the chances of EA developing for the Wii U again. EA publishes many of gaming’s biggest franchises, including Madden, The Sims, and Battlefield.
In June 2011, at the biggest gaming event of the year — E3 — Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata closed his presentation of his company’s biggest games and then-forthcoming Wii U console by welcoming then-CEO of EA John Riccitiello to the stage. “What Nintendo’s new console delivers speaks directly to the players of EA Sports and EA Games. Nintendo’s new console will produce brilliant high-definition graphics and new gameplay opportunities. We look forward to seeing great EA content on this new platform.” Riccitiello was also enthused about Nintendo’s embrace of online gaming.
EA delivered for Wii U early, releasing Wii U versions of Mass Effect 3, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Madden and FIFA for the new console. Each of those games had been released months earlier on rival Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms. While they ran well, they were, ultimately, late ports. EA’s biggest console game of early 2013, Dead Space 3, skipped the Wii U.
Brown told Kotaku that that early run of EA games on Wii U represented EA delivering on its E3 2011 partnership.
EA supported Nintendo’s previous console, the Wii, throughout the machine’s lifespan, even launching some Wii-only/Wii-first games such as Steven Spielberg’s Boom Blox and the MySims games. But the company, like many other major third-party companies, struggled to find a blockbuster hit for Wii. Rival Ubisoft succeeded with Just Dance, but that was an exception. On Nintendo consoles, traditionally the main company that has thrived is Nintendo as system owners flock to support the likes of the Wii Sports, Super Mario and Zelda games from Nintendo.
The full absence of Wii U games from Nintendo’s pipeline seemed increasingly likely as the Wii U remained conspicuously absent from announcements regarding major 2013 EA games such as . A lack of EA support will prevent Wii U gamers from having access to an NFL game, for which EA holds the exclusive licence.
EA’s refusal to put its sports games on Sega’s Dreamcast system in 1999 is seen as one of the signs of Sega’s decline in as a console maker. The Dreamcast was Sega’s last box. On the other hand, EA may not be the kingmaker it once was, and it could be argued that Nintendo’s own Wii Sports is the most successful and broadly-appealing sports game of the last generation.
While EA has clearly cooled on Wii U, it is ramping up support for many other devices, including the next PlayStation and Xbox, the latter of which will be officially revealed on May 21. “I’ve been with the company long time and we have never been better positioned for the launch of new technology, either mobile or console,” Brown said. He said EA has invested deeply in preparing games for the next generation of consoles and expects to launch strong as it did at the start of the PS2 and Xbox era than it did with a weaker game slate at the beginning of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii generation. Much of that planning can be credited to Riccitiello, who departed from EA earlier this year.
EA isn’t alone in not having new games for Wii U. There are no signs of major forthcoming Wii U games from Take Two, with Grand Theft Auto V only promised for PS3 and Xbox 360. The next Call of Duty is also not announced for Wii U (the last one did come out for it). On the other hand, Warner Brothers has the next Batman game and the console-exclusive Scribblenauts Unmasked for Wii U this year. Ubisoft is bringing major Rayman and Assassin’s Creed games to Wii U this year along with its ambitious new open-world game Watch Dogs.
Comments
43 responses to “EA Has No Games In Development For Nintendo’s Wii U”
Whenever Totilo posts about Nintendo as if we’re both in a prison and he’s the smart-arse bloke in the cell next door wryly commenting on the guards/food. This is like that moment he finally loses his last shred of a sense of humour.
Hmm. We already know that EA hates Nintendo, or at least Wii U. Have they been doing much on the 3DS, or has that been getting the same treatment?
The issue the Wii U has at the moment, and its not audience, is the hardware itself is completely different to the Wii, Xbox 360 (and 720) and PS3 (and PS4).
Also considering that the hardware is severely lacking power compared to the next gen i cant see any devs porting PC/PS4/Xbox 720 games to the WiiU. In that respect the WiiU will be left to have half assed third party games but top notch first party games.
Its a damn shame, because the WiiU looks like a really cool console, but without any games or support from third party my money is being place elsewhere.
I hope Nintendo survives this gen and next gen can pull something, not only awesome, out of the hat but something that Devs can get behind.
“In that respect the WiiU will be left to have half assed third party games but top notch first party games.”
I think we call this “Nintendo Syndrome”.
I’ll be laughing in a years time if the nextbox and PS4 don’t exactly set the world on fire at launch
It’s not about “setting the world on fire at launch”. It’s about having the capacity to set the world on fire some time, at some point, ever.
The Wii U had a 1 year lead which they have squandered, and their next year doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence either. Sure the PS4 and nextbox might have a shaky first year, but I’d certainly expect them to be in a stronger position by 2015 than the Wii U will be by the end of this year.
Considering the (apparent) similarities between the PS4/720 in terms of architecture and the number of devs already on board. There won’t be an issue of lack of games for PS4/720
Yeah but the PS4 and 720 have a bigger problem than lack of games… the PS3 and 360, almost anything that’s worth caring about this year is coming out on those two consoles, new GTA, new Splinter Cell, new Battlefield, new COD, new Metal Gear
So are there any Wii U exclusives games coming to the console that aren’t made by Nintendo? I really want to like the Wii U, but the lack of new IP is putting me off purchasing one.
http://kotaku.com/5942937/bayonetta-2-is-a-wii-u-game
This is all as far as I know.
Thanks y’all! Quite a paltry showing for the Wii U. I think I’ll spend my money elsewhere for the time being.
Published by Nintendo though, which makes it what, second party?
Scribblenauts, the new Sonic game they announced last night both spring to mind.
Well if i wanted EA games i would play my xbox. I Didn’t buy my WiiU to play the same stuff every other console does….
You are missing the point. not everyone has more than one console. When a family goes into a store to buy one they aren’t going to pick the one that has 1st party titles that come out every second year when they can look to the Xbox 720 which will have their own first party games as well as countless other 3rd party games.
I do see your point. My counter argument would be that Nintendo games are way more family friendly and the wiiU will be about half the price of a new Xbox and probably a third of the price of a ps4. Also, Nintendo can take a hit, they are LOADED with money. If they lose some money on this console, no big deal.
Maybe everyone should look into the health of the play station, I don’t know if they can lose more money on the ps4…and I won’t buy one at $900 a pop. I’ll just play my pc, which is pretty much all a ps is now but less powerful
“Nintendo games are way more family friendly”
The other consoles have their share of family-friendly fare as well, just as Nintendo has its share of non-family games. Sly Raccon. LittleBigPlanet (+ Karting). Spyro. Viva Pinata. Sonic Generations (also on Wii of course, but available for the other consoles). My nephew loves staying at my place because of my games, but his game of choice lately has been the Sly trilogy, not Mario Galaxy 2.
On the other hand… Eternal Darkness. Mad World. Zombi U… Nintendo isn’t all sunshine & rainbows.
You failed to mention that not even Nintendo is making games for this system. This has to be their biggest failure of a console, even compared to the Virtual Boy.
Hey now! You’ll be able to play a Pikmin game oriningally designed for the Wii eventually…. and there’s a port of a Gamecube game coming out…..and a Wario mini-game collection!
I love Nintendo to death, but i’m getting sick of writing comments about how bad they’ve messed up this generation (or last generation or whatever the WiiU is).
I’m not sure Nintendo needs their games, they hadn’t before. So what’s changed?
Why would you buy a console that has no games?
I like my Playstation, Xbox and PC. Nintendo has their own franchises don’t they?
I suppose people buy Nintendo for them. After all the rest of the games we’ve played already on other platforms I guess.
Why did people buy the Occulus Rift or Ouya without even seeing the thing in a store? Grow up.
Mainly because those products offer something that consumers want. For the mainstream, they already have a Wii console, and don’t see the need to purchase the Wii U (Nintendo’s poor marketing for the console definitely didn’t help in this regard). Nintendo’s hardcore market got burnt by the Wii, and a large majority have no interest in taking that risk again with the Wii U (particularly when Nintendo’s showing of must-have titles has been paltry at best).
Well screw you then, EA! Nintendo doesn’t need you as it’s a unique innovator console. I don’t even like playing games like Dead Space, Battlefield and Madden sports. Wii U isn’t just for shooters and sports. The Sims and Boom Blox would have been great for the Wii U. ZombiU is a fantastic Nintendo exclusive that is sadly underrated. Hail Ubisoft!
EA’s games are shit, but it still doesn’t look good for the Wii U at all. If Nintendo are smart, they’ll utilize all the franchises they have besides Mario and Zelda. That is what they have to do if they want to hit the core audience.
HEADLINES: A major publisher isn’t making games for a system no-one bought.
Next at 11: That stripper you were paying money to doesn’t actually care about your life, and texting ‘YES’ to a late-night mobile ad isn’t going to win you an xbox.
”That stripper you were paying money to doesn’t actually care about your life”
You just shattered my very existence.
Other hard truths:
There is no extra stock ‘out back’ – staff who go to check are going for a smoke break.
Santa isn’t real.
Your mother probably had sex not for procreation, but because she was horny, and liked it.
You were born too early to explore space, too late to explore earth.
Firefly is never going to return to TV as a series.
When she said “It’s not you, it’s me,” …it was you.
One day you and everyone you love will be dead and no-one will remember you.
Enjoy!
I miss Firefly i think ill go watch it now 🙂
Dude….. Brutal, so…..so brutal.
She doesn’t? That *****. I’m going back to that club tonight and I’m gonna take 50 bucks OUT of her gstring.
Out of my 32 Wii games I have 3 EA titles, so I don’t think I will miss them much on the console.
As much as I’d like everything on one console, it’s the old ‘buy nintendo consoles for nintendo games’ dealio. Hopefully Nintendo will announce some of these games in the Nintendo Direct tonight/tomorrow and at E3 because now that I’m done with Lego City my WiiU is only used to load Wii mode and weigh myself on Wii Fit.
Care level: 0. Nobody even likes EA or their repackaged titles.
Correction: Nobody likes the repackaged ports of EA games they put out on Nintendo consoles.
I think you’ll find that the millions and millions of people who’ve bought Maddens, FIFAs, Mass Effects, Battlfields , Sims titles, Need for Speeds…… DO like EA titles.
Anybody who likes sports games does. FIFA is one of the biggest selling franchises there is – quite possibly number 2 behind COD. Games like FIFA, Madden and Tiger Woods sell millions of units. You might not like them, but if you think nobody likes them or that they don’t matter then you’re kidding yourself.
Lets be honest here, who would actually buy a Nintendo console for EA games or any other multiplat developer for that matter. Whenever I hear someone getting or having a Nintendo console, it’s all about 1st, 2nd party and exclusive games. PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 are your platform of choice if you want multiplats.
I have a Wii U for playing Nintendo games and a PC for all other games.
If EA cant afford to dev for it then who the frack can?
They very much can. They won’t do it though because Nintendo won’t allow Origin on the Wii U. That’s essentially what started this.
Unfortunately it’s a big red flashing signal that other developers and publishers will take heed to. As we know making games is costly and if there’s too much risk in making a return the games won’t get made. This for us as consumers is bad for two reasons, less variety of games entertainment and secondly Nintendo is going to take a major hit that will ultimately affect its ability to provide this variety in the future. Drastic action required Nintendo.
lol i want to say what a same but its EA so im not worryed about missing out on an online over priced game with firsts day dlc at $15 each there loss really
Yet now they are going back on their previous statement and are making games for the Wii U.