When the original Wii launched in 2006, Ubisoft was the biggest third party supporter of the system, with several titles available throughout the launch window, including Red Steel. Now once again, Ubisoft is betting big on Nintendo’s new console, with several titles in development for the Wii U. These titles include Killer Freaks From Outer Space and Ghost Recon Online — both titles are scheduled to be Wii U launch titles.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Ubisoft’s Tony Key said,
“We have big plans for Wii U. Our intention is to be the number one third party on Wii U, just like we were on Kinect and 3DS. We’ve always had a really close relationship with Nintendo so I’d venture to say that we did have an advantage in getting dev kits earlier than other people.”
Key went on, saying that their strong relationship with Nintendo meant that Ubisoft got the Wii U dev kits very early in the development stage. Ubisoft currently has 4 titles confirmed for the Wii U: Rayman, Assassin’s Creed 3, Ghost Recon Online, and the Wii U exclusive Killer Freaks From Outer Space.
Third party support will be paramount for the Wii U. Nintendo seems to have learned its lessons from the Wii, where all dominant titles were Nintendo first party games like Mario, Zelda, etc. For the Wii U, the company is aggressively trying to get third party developers and publishers on board, and will be offering several Wii U software tools free of charge to developers working on the new console.
