Nintendo might cease production of the Wii U by the end of the year

Whether it’s not being able to handle 4K gaming or still struggling to achieve 60FPS on most games, this generation of consoles has been riddled with disappointment, but nothing has been as disappointing as the Wii U. Even the release of highly-anticipated games like the new Super Smash Bros have only mildly improved the console’s abysmal sales, which is why it’s so easy to believe Nikkei’s report on Tuesday that Nintendo is planning to cease production of the Wii U by the end of the year. Nintendo has clarified that the Japanese newspaper’s information isn’t official, and claims that the Wii U will continue to be produced for the time being, but it didn’t directly deny the report.

Respected Japanese newspaper Nikkei published a rumor this morning that the Wii U will soon be ceasing production to make way for the upcoming NX. Nintendo is now denying that report. Nikkei reports Wii U production will apparently end before the year is out. The reasons Nikkei gives are a lack of popularity compared to the Wii and the notion that the console won’t be able to stage a comeback. Also, the paper notes that developing games for the Wii U was difficult for game studios due to the console’s particular nature. The Wii U launched in November 2012 and has currently sold over 12 million consoles worldwide. According to Nikkei, companies that make Wii U parts have already ceased production on some of the console’s components. Nikkei reports that development on new Wii U titles, however, will continue, and this seems to be a move to reduce the risk of excess Wii U inventory when the NX launches. But Nintendo is denying the Nikkei article. A Nintendo spokesperson told Japanese site IT Media, “This isn’t an announcement from our company.” The spokesperson added, “From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production [of the Wii U] is scheduled to continue.” While Nintendo is denying this latest Nikkei report, please remember that the paper has a good track record with Nintendo rumors.