Ubisoft Sees No Profit or Point in Wii U Mature Titles

[Karloff]

Ubisoft Sees No Profit or Point in Wii U Mature Titles

Watch Dogs is the last mature title Ubisoft will publish on Wii U.

"It's very simple," says Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot. "What we see is that Nintendo customers don't buy Assassin's Creed." Or any other mature title, so Ubisoft is switching its Wii U sales strategy. Watch Dogs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/9351-WATCH-DOGS] will be the last mature title Ubisoft publishes on the Wii U. After that it will switch to titles more appropriate to the console's target demographic.

""What we see is that they are very interested in Just Dance," says Guillemot, "Very interested by other kinds of games." In fiscal year 2013/14, Wii U sales made up only 3% of Ubisoft's total sales, a drop of 1% from the previous year. Not that long ago, Guillemot was adamant that Ubisoft wouldn't create any more Wii U games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/135181-Ubisoft-Wont-Release-A-Finished-Wii-U-Game-Until-Nintendo-Sells-More-Consoles] until Nintendo sold more consoles.

Ubisoft sees no point in creating games that won't sell, and it isn't the only one. In January Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment cancelled Wii U DLC for a console that wasn't selling [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131851-Batman-Arkham-Origins-DLC-Cancelled-on-Wii-U].

In January this year Nintendo revealed it expected significantly reduced sales of its Wii U [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131419-Nintendo-Makes-Major-Reductions-in-Wii-U-3DS-Sales-Projections].

Source: Game Informer [http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/08/18/ubisoft-ceo-yves-guillemot-nintendo-customers-don-t-buy-assassin-s-creed.aspx]


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[Shayman]

Wow... Your "mature" titles don't sell on the Wii U because the ports are inferior quality in comparison to the other platforms. Don't singly blame the demographic.

 

[Dark Knifer]

This kind of makes sense. Nintendo is a bit of a niche and ubisoft make titles that's on every other console anyway that people bought for this type of thing. The people who want games like watch dogs wouldn't have bought a wiiu specifically for that. They buy it for mario, zelda and stuff like that.

Which is fine, credit for nintendo to catering for a specific audience that's different from it's competitors and having fun while doing so. I don't think either company will miss each other.

 

[Karthenak]

I bought AC4 on my Wii U, had few complaints. *sigh* While granted I didn't exactly buy my console for the M rated games, I was quite excited to hear Watch Dogs was going to be on the Wii U. To be honest I feel a tad bit sad about this, but I suppose that 3% of sales is pretty damning. But again, I bought my Wii U for the plethora of Nintendo franchises I love and keep my M rated games (for the most part) on my PC.

 

[Chris Ingersoll]

Wow... Your "mature" titles don't sell on the Wii U because the ports are inferior quality in comparison to the other platforms. Don't singly blame the demographic.

Also Watch Dogs for Wii U is going to tank because there's been a five-month delay between its release and its launch everywhere else. If you're going to treat the system as an afterthought, don't be surprised when consumers do the same to your product on it.

 

[FalloutJack]

Translation: "Money is icky and we don't like touching it."

You know, guys, for a business, your bottom line is more than a little wonky.

 

[Micah Weil]

Lemme guess...couldn't find a way to stick uPlay into it...

 

[Lightknight]

Wow... Your "mature" titles don't sell on the Wii U because the ports are inferior quality in comparison to the other platforms. Don't singly blame the demographic.

Of course they're inferior quality compared to the other platforms. The Wii U is a mild step above the 360 technologically (uses the same CPU and only 1GB of RAM is available for games). You can't expect anyone, not even developer Jesus, to cram 8th generation games into 7th generation technology no matter how much people stress that it's part of the 8th generation. It may very well be Nintendo's 8th generation entry but it's old technology. Sorry, but true.

What's more is that the WiiU is the only non-x86 console on the market. This makes it the only console that's hard to program for compared to a PC.

Then you've got a game like Watchdogs for the ps4 compared to the legend that is Mario Kart (8). They both launched in the same month and both are 1 and 2 in the top sellers of the year so far. But if the WiiU's Nintendo powerhouse IP isn't outselling a single platform version of a Ubisoft game then what can a developer expect to happen to 3rd party games?

Look, the WiiU has been around since 2012 and only has 7 games that have beat the 1 million copies mark. All of then are Nintendo first party and at least one of them was boxed with the WiiU so its numbers are inflated.

Ubisoft is the ONLY 3rd party studio in the console's deplorable top 15.

ZombieU (a launch title which should have been free money) at 700k units.
Rayman Legends (a 2013 title and the 15th best selling title on the entire console) at 360k units.

These numbers are deplorable.

Compare that with the ps4 which hasn't even been out a full year yet and has 8 games that top 1 million. Sony only owns 3 of the top 15 spots which means that 3rd party developers are making out like gang busters.

Even the XBO is a healthier environment for 3rd party games with 3 3rd party developers over the 1 million units sold mark.

So I'm sorry, but 3rd party developers shouldn't develop for the WiiU unless it's simple as heck. At least the WiiU appears to be performing better month to month than the XBO now. So it's possible the main competition this generation will be the WiiU and PS4. But it looks like Sony has returned to ps1/ps2 glory days. Let's see if they can hold onto it or screw it up.

 

[RicoADF]

Translation: "Money is icky and we don't like touching it."

You know, guys, for a business, your bottom line is more than a little wonky.

Clearly the cost of porting the game is either close to or more than what they make in sales. Like it or not, Nintendo have created this situation of their console not being seen as a system for 'mature' games and as such most people that own the system aren't looking for those games (and probably own another system that does get them if they want such games). This is the result of Nintendo focusing on the family friendly and child demographic.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I can understand where Ubisoft is coming from, not wanting to put mature games on the Wii U. I know I'm not helping matters as well since, while I do buy mature, third-party games on the Wii U, I wait until they're at a practically give-away price. I'm still not convinced that Ubisoft is going to release a Wii U version of Watch Dogs but when/if they do I don't see myself getting it at all since it will probably only be released in very limited numbers and the price likely won't dip below $40.

I bought my Wii U because it looked like the second-coming of the Gamecube but it seems like devs and publishers bailed out during its second month on the market when it became evident that the console wasn't going to sell several million units before 2012 ended. Of course it didn't get any better as time went on, Nintendo obviously had 3rd party titles in mind to help get it through the software droughts that came about. Even if the Wii U ends up failing sooner than the competition at least there's the 3DS to fall back on.

 

[FFMaster]

I think we all called this when they started releasing there ports with no DLC so if you had another console you would get it for that as you would have the option of DLC.

While i don't think you can exclude Nintendo from blame on this, i think saying its all there fault is rubbish, its just as much Ubisofts fault for making the WiiU versions of the game such a poor option compared to the others.

Ubisoft is the ONLY 3rd party studio in the console's deplorable top 15.

Incorrect, there are a lot of 3rd parties on the eshop, Sega are also a third party and i think some of them count in the top15 of the console, also shows that there are 3rd parties.

ZombieU (a launch title which should have been free money) at 700k units.
Rayman Legends (a 2013 title and the 15th best selling title on the entire console) at 360k units.

These numbers are deplorable.

Rayman became multiformat and was late, so lost a lot of traction and had a backlash from owners because of the delay to go multiform (then it sold best on the WiiU anyway which is information missing from your numbers that are deplorable).

Zombie U being a horror game already has a niche, it also had a development hell, 700k would be good enough with a decent budget but the budget spiraled.

So I'm sorry, but 3rd party developers shouldn't develop for the WiiU unless it's simple as heck. At least the WiiU appears to be performing better month to month than the XBO now. So it's possible the main competition this generation will be the WiiU and PS4. But it looks like Sony has returned to ps1/ps2 glory days. Let's see if they can hold onto it or screw it up.

3rd parties can develop for it as long as its tailored towards the audi.....ohhhh
this is a stealth well done Sony post despite the topic being nothing to do with Sony at all, ok now i get it.

 

[Lightknight]

I can understand where Ubisoft is coming from, not wanting to put mature games on the Wii U. I know I'm not helping matters as well since, while I do buy mature, third-party games on the Wii U, I wait until they're at a practically give-away price. I'm still not convinced that Ubisoft is going to release a Wii U version of Watch Dogs but when/if they do I don't see myself getting it at all since it will probably only be released in very limited numbers and the price likely won't dip below $40.

I bought my Wii U because it looked like the second-coming of the Gamecube but it seems like devs and publishers bailed out during its second month on the market when it became evident that the console wasn't going to sell several million units before 2012 ended. Of course it didn't get any better as time went on, Nintendo obviously had 3rd party titles in mind to help get it through the software droughts that came about. Even if the Wii U ends up failing sooner than the competition at least there's the 3DS to fall back on.

The deplorable 3rd party sales on the WiiU would indicate that you're not alone in these actions. Only 1st party games seem to get any love on the WiiU.

 

[Skratt]

Maybe they won't develop anything at all for the WiiU, to that I say good riddance. I don't play my WiiU for anything hard hitting anyway, let alone want to buy anything that Ubisoft creates.

Don't get me wrong, Ubisoft games look fun, they just like to finish their products then smear feces all over them before handing them out to their customers. You know, to make sure nobody wants to share with you...

Why are we still putting up with their bad behavior?

 

[Trishbot]

Also Watch Dogs for Wii U is going to tank because there's been a five-month delay between its release and its launch everywhere else. If you're going to treat the system as an afterthought, don't be surprised when consumers do the same to your product on it.

Basically this.

This is as bad as when EA was talking about how their Wii U games didn't sell... even though they were just ports of games that were already a year old and missing content the other platforms had. They seriously expected million-dollar sales of Mass Effect 3, the finale of a trilogy built on carrying over your decisions that never appeared on a Nintendo system before, a year after everyone else had it, released at full price when you could get the game for $15 on Steam or Amazon, missing key DLC and online support, when the Mass Effect TRILOGY of games was released the exact same month for the same price?

This reminds me of the summer where Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Catwoman, and Elektra all bombed, and the head of one Hollywood studio cancelled all their female-led action movies because "people aren't interested in female actresses in leading roles in blockbusters". Anyone with a brain could tell them that it wasn't the fact they were actresses; it was because the movies were bad.

This weird stigma with Nintendo as a "kiddie" system has been, and never will be, true. I own plenty of M-rated EXCLUSIVE titles on Nintendo systems, from Resident Evil Zero, Eternal Darkness, Geist, No More Heroes 2, Red Steel 2, Madworld, ZombiU, and others.

But the majority of them just aren't great. If Ubisoft put half as much effort into making Wii U games competitive with all the other systems, launched at the same time with the same content, they would probably be shocked to see sales increase.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Also Watch Dogs for Wii U is going to tank because there's been a five-month delay between its release and its launch everywhere else. If you're going to treat the system as an afterthought, don't be surprised when consumers do the same to your product on it.

That's the thing; 3rd parties have basically not had to want for anything for the last three generations. They got what they wanted when they wanted it and the thought of having to put EFFORT into getting an audience is an idea that is completely lost on them. They basically expected to sell millions despite just farting them out onto the Wii U with little to no fair. And that's before you get into the conspicuous absence of anything on the 3DS despite it being cheap to develop for and the most numerous system right now. These guys make no sense. They just come off as incompetent numbskulls who don't know how business is supposed to work.

 

[lacktheknack]

Translation: "Money is icky and we don't like touching it."

You know, guys, for a business, your bottom line is more than a little wonky.

Uhhh?

Actually, they're not making money. There's not enough money in the Wii U. That's why they're abandoning it. It right there in the title. Is preserving a whopping 3% of their sales worth the time and effort they spend porting a game into a difficult coding environment with massive hardware downgrades? HARDLY.

I came into this comments thread expecting knee-jerk reactions, but come on, people.

 

[Shayman]

Wow... Your "mature" titles don't sell on the Wii U because the ports are inferior quality in comparison to the other platforms. Don't singly blame the demographic.

That's a fucking lie. The Assassins Creed ports were fantastic, as well as supported a hudless screen, literally the only benefit I see to the controller of the WiiU.

I meant graphically, not that the ports ran terribly. I should have worded differently.