Ubisoft was the biggest third party publisher (still is, probably) on the Wii U, especially when the console launched. The French publisher invested heavily in Wii U games, launching with no less than 6 titles. But none of Ubisoft’s games were successful on the Wii U, sales wise. In fact, according to the company’s latest earnings report, just 3% of its revenues came from the Wii U over the past 3 months.
That’s a very low number, even if the company didn’t release any new Wii U games during that period. In fact, Ubisoft hasn’t released a Wii U title since that Marvel game no one remembers, back in December 2012. But Ubisoft still has some stellar Wii U games on the market, most notably ZombiU and Assassin’s Creed 3, and even those aren’t selling.
Ubisoft knew very early on that Wii U sales were going to struggle, which made the company decide to not only delay Rayman Legends by 6 months, but also to release it on other platforms as well. During the earnings call, Ubisoft also revealed that ZombiU, its Wii U exclusive title, was not profitable.
Recently, Ubisoft’s CEO said that “the Wii U still has a chance” if Nintendo can release some popular first party titles this year.
This doesn’t mean that Ubisoft has abandoned the Wii U just yet: later this year they’re bringing 4 key titles to the console: Rayman Legends, Assassin’s Creed 4, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell Blacklist. The company is also bringing lesser known titles such as Just Dance 2014 and a game based on the new Smurfs 2 movie.
