Bethesda has come out and said that they aren’t developing games for the Wii U, and that (in the short-term, at least) it’s not on their radar. However, they have a different reason than the others for doing this.
Unlike EA and Ubisoft, who are avoiding the Wii U because it’s not financially viable, Bethesda explains that it’s about the hardware. He says Bethesda’s mantra is to:
“make the games that we want to make, on whatever platforms will support them as developed.”
For example, they looked at releasing The Elder Scrolls Online on XBox 360, but hardware limitations made it impossible. While they aren’t completely ruling out bringing a game to the Wii U, it just doesn’t fit with their current game cycle.
I can’t say I blame them. The new Wolfenstein looks pretty cool, but I’m not sure the Wii U could add anything to the game play. The Game Pad is really cool, and anyone who has played with the Wii U will tell you that it offers some innovative possibilities. Unfortunately, I think the best games on Wii U will be exclusives – any ports will feel like they don’t make use of what the Wii U has to offer. So, while I’m disappointed in Bethesda for not investing in making an awesome pseudo-historical open-world epic on the Wii U, at least they are doing it because of quality rather than profits. Or so they say…
Last Updated: August 7, 2013
Admiral Chief Zombie Slayer
August 7, 2013 at 13:46
I spent some time jamming on it, and to be honest, the meh is strong with that one
Trevor Davies
August 7, 2013 at 14:07
“Go away WiiU! No one likes you!”
InsaneZucchini
August 7, 2013 at 22:00
It was extremely unlikely they were ever going to develop games for the Wii U to begin with, even if the system was doing well right now. The last game they developed for a Nintendo home system was 22 years ago and they’ve only ever published 4 games that ended up on Nintendo home consoles. They’ve been around 27 years.
Rock789
August 8, 2013 at 08:07
I like the concept behind the WiiU. But sadly, this article just highlights how bad the WiiU’s current state of affairs are… No one seems to love it. And Nintendo will develop games for it like crazy, in the hopes that they can lure more people to it.
But let’s be honest, Nintendo’s main selling point of the last 7 years – family interactivity – is just simply being surpassed by Microsoft and Sony… And Microsoft / Sony will have the greater line-up of games… So guess which console people will choose to buy? A small hint – it ain’t gonna be the WiiU… Sad, but true…