Ubisoft & EA: Making Wii U Games isnt even close to profitable

Started by shadowDOESrock, July 08, 2013, 09:23:08 AM

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shadowDOESrock

Zombie U, a launch title for the Wii U, failed to make a profit and the publisher has no plans for a sequel.

Speaking to GI.Biz, Guillemot said the Wii U exclusive didn’t even come close to recovering the investment the publisher made on the game.

He went on to say that the failure of the game as a Wii U exclusive was the main reason for switching Rayman Legends from being a Wii U exclusive to a multi-platform game.

“We must find a way to ensure the creativity of those games could have a big enough audience,” he said. “We hope it will take off. At the moment, we’ve said ‘let’s do through Christmas and see where we are from there.”

Peter Moore, EA chief operation officer, has also elaborated about why the publisher isn’t actively supporting the Wii U.

“We were there with four games for them [at launch]. It’s been a disappointment when you look at sell-through and, as a company, we have to be very judicious where we deploy our resources,” he told GI.Biz.

Moore cited the lack of online engagement on the console as being one of the main reasons for its titles making little impact on the system.

“The lack of online engagement that we see on Wii U [is troubling]. It’s so integral to what we do. They’re so small it’s hardly worth running the servers. It seems like a box that’s out of sync with the future of EA â€" which is one that gives a real social feel to our games. The Wii U feels like an offline experience right now.”

Hakudamashi

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TheGameNinja

I think sales for the Wii U will pick up later this year. The Wii is all but removed from the market and people will be more aware of the presence of new consoles with the other 2 coming out.

Elija2

Quote from: TheGameNinja on July 08, 2013, 10:10:35 AM
I think sales for the Wii U will pick up later this year. The Wii is all but removed from the market and people will be more aware of the presence of new consoles with the other 2 coming out.

Dude, even the 360 and PS3 are outselling the Wii U, and those consoles have their successors coming out this year. The Wii being gone (which it has been for a while) and the next-gen consoles coming out isn't gonna do the Wii U any favours.

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TheGameNinja

Quote from: Elija2 on July 08, 2013, 10:38:49 AM
Dude, even the 360 and PS3 are outselling the Wii U, and those consoles have their successors coming out this year. The Wii being gone (which it has been for a while) and the next-gen consoles coming out isn't gonna do the Wii U any favours.

But it will. Knowing that the PS4 and Xbone exist will help people see there's a difference between the Wii and Wii U.

Elija2

Quote from: TheGameNinja on July 08, 2013, 11:47:28 AM
But it will. Knowing that the PS4 and Xbone exist will help people see there's a difference between the Wii and Wii U.

How so? Someone sees a commercial for the PS4, they're not gonna think "Oh, I guess that Wii peripheral I'd heard about is actually a brand new console." And even if they did, it wouldn't make them want to buy it.

TheGameNinja

Quote from: Elija2 on July 08, 2013, 11:57:46 AM
How so? Someone sees a commercial for the PS4, they're not gonna think "Oh, I guess that Wii peripheral I'd heard about is actually a brand new console." And even if they did, it wouldn't make them want to buy it.

It's not about them buying it, it's about the consumers being aware of the product.

Elija2

Quote from: TheGameNinja on July 08, 2013, 12:23:08 PM
It's not about them buying it, it's about the consumers being aware of the product.

Awareness doesn't mean anything if nobody's buying the Wii U. Even if everyone in the world was aware of the Wii U's existence, if nobody buys one it's a failure.

Hakudamashi

Trailers for Smash Bros. comes out
People:There's a new Smash Bros. coming out? And it's coming out on that 3DS I already own? Alright.

If people are aware of the Wii U through the PS4 and Xbone, then at least SSB can be the killer app it needs if just for the better graphics.
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TheGameNinja

Quote from: Elija2 on July 08, 2013, 02:09:52 PM
Awareness doesn't mean anything if nobody's buying the Wii U. Even if everyone in the world was aware of the Wii U's existence, if nobody buys one it's a failure.

Awareness is important. Sales will follow. I'm taking classes in this junk, I know a little tiny bit about what I'm talking about. o3o

shadowDOESrock


Hakudamashi

Quote from: {Your Lovely Kyo}~ on July 08, 2013, 06:13:53 PM
But no one has a reason to buy a Wii U.

Orly now?

Not even a certain Witch will change your mind?
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TheGameNinja

People have plenty of reasons to buy a Wii U. More reasons that to buy a PS4 or Xbone. Most games on those will be multi-platform and even on PC. Wii U will have the most exclusives and, as always per Nintendo, the best first-party support.

Elija2

Quote from: windlessusher on July 09, 2013, 08:08:03 AM
Orly now?

Not even a certain Witch will change your mind?

Bayonetta was never a system-seller. Only die-hard Bayonetta fans are gonna buy a Wii U just for Bayonetta 2.

Quote from: TheGameNinja on July 09, 2013, 08:55:09 AM
People have plenty of reasons to buy a Wii U. More reasons that to buy a PS4 or Xbone. Most games on those will be multi-platform and even on PC. Wii U will have the most exclusives and, as always per Nintendo, the best first-party support.

Most people do not buy more than one console per gen. If people have to choose between XBONE, PS4, and Wii U, most people aren't going to pick the Wii U and miss out on all the third-party games.

shadowDOESrock

Quote from: windlessusher on July 09, 2013, 08:08:03 AM
Orly now?

Not even a certain Witch will change your mind?

Yeah, that game that no one wanted to finance because it was a hard sell will pretty sure be a system seller.

Quote from: TheGameNinja on July 09, 2013, 08:55:09 AM
People have plenty of reasons to buy a Wii U. More reasons that to buy a PS4 or Xbone. Most games on those will be multi-platform and even on PC. Wii U will have the most exclusives and, as always per Nintendo, the best first-party support.

lol gamecube

Hakudamashi

Well y'know what? I have my reasons for owning a Wii U and I'm quite happy.
I can only give my reasons for wanting one, which is a "fool's gambit" according to you, so why bother arguing further..
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Tanassy

Y'know the PS4 and Xbone aren't even out yet and they already have more exclusives each than what the Wii U has.

People just aren't interested in it, it has next to no install base, it's a pain in the ass to set up and offers little power for asking price. It's a good place for the Nintendo fan and it's enough to keep Nintendo's mountain of money above sea level, but if devs are already abandoning it this far into it's life it's almost certainly going to remain a very low player in the current-gen.

This isn't a Dreamcast situation, the Wii U isn't going to drop off the map, but it's just not worth it for anyone at the moment, and even Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros aren't going to sell to a non-existant user base. Even the Third-Party developers who are currently making exclusives are on limited or timed deals.


With those facts out of the way, I don't discourage anyone from getting the system for the gems it already has. It's not worth buying one over say, a PS4, but it's worth buying alongside of it. It's not a bad system it's just not making waves, it's too little and too late, and even Nintendo admitted to underestimating the manpower they need to put into games in this generation, which is why they've suffered so many delays. And that is ultimately why this system has no install base, it had a chance to slip into the market ahead of the competition but they botched it and have pretty much lost that chance. Their only hope is to make the most mindblowing games ever, and still stand against the PS4 and Xbone. And I can't even see Smash Bros doing that, most of that game's sales will come from the 3DS, which DOES have a large install base.

And the only reason the 3DS succeeded was because it had next to no competition and the biggest price cut in the history of probably any system in it's first year.




THAT SAID, I don't think Ubisoft have the right to complain their game didn't sell; it was pretty fucking abysmal.


Hakudamashi

lol, the 3DS had the exact same problem until the price drop.
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Tanassy

Yes, except the Wii U doesn't have the benefit of a terrible competitor ala the Vita.

That, and when people start to get more Vitas thanks to the PS4, the 3DS is also going to start going under.


Elija2

Quote from: windlessusher on July 09, 2013, 09:29:09 PM
Well y'know what? I have my reasons for owning a Wii U and I'm quite happy.
I can only give my reasons for wanting one, which is a "fool's gambit" according to you, so why bother arguing further..

If you're enjoying your Wii U, great. Good for you. I'm just saying that it's not going to be a successful system. If you can continue to enjoy the system throughout it's lifespan and not regret your purchase, that's fine.

Hakudamashi

Quote from: Elija2 on July 10, 2013, 02:54:14 PM
If you're enjoying your Wii U, great. Good for you. I'm just saying that it's not going to be a successful system. If you can continue to enjoy the system throughout it's lifespan and not regret your purchase, that's fine.
Well, I don't have the superpower to convince the world's population to support the things xi like, AND give them the money to do it...

I mean, I have no games for this thing other than the Rayman Legends challenge levels, but I'm still enjoying it with no regrets, but to try to explain that to others just makes me look mad...

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TheGameNinja

Quote from: Iris Sapphire on July 10, 2013, 02:16:19 PM
Yes, except the Wii U doesn't have the benefit of a terrible competitor ala the Vita.

That, and when people start to get more Vitas thanks to the PS4, the 3DS is also going to start going under.

Yeaaah, no. That won't happen.

Ryltohn

My biggest issue with the Wii u is the lack of games I'm actually interests. There's only two: ssbu and scribblenauts. That's it. I don't need to dump 250 for two games... And an "better online experience" I don't do online that much anyway vertiabtly not enough to warrant replacing my wii. Give me a wiiU free and ill be happy , but it's just not something I want to buy.

St the moment I can say the same on the ps4. It's a powerhouse, cool. It will have infamous abs kh3, sweet. But that's just not enough for me. There has to be a lot of games that I want, or a good deal.

I also do t like ea'sonlije bitching. Life exists outside of the Internet, but more abd more people forget that. Multiplayer is fine and dandys but some of us don't care. We honestly truly don't.

Also: it seems Ubi is pulling its "Lets make every Nintendo thing crappy and shovelware, Tana?
All your bass are belong to me

Tanassy

No, they make fantastic games. It's just that ZombiU was a fairly forgettable and buggy game with gameplay that got repetitive. Such a good idea... but not well executed. So, I feel they're asking for too much to make a profit from that.


Ryltohn

Hm. Allright. About a third of my wii gAmes are ubisioft, and all of them are somewhat buggy and annoying, to where it takes a certain appeal or determination to slog through the repetitiveness. Though I admit, avatar multiplayer was a blast and once you gets grip on his you're SUPPOSEDA TO PLAY THE GANE it's a lot smoother.
All your bass are belong to me

Hakudamashi

Quote from: Iris Sapphire on July 11, 2013, 04:37:34 PM
No, they make fantastic games. It's just that ZombiU was a fairly forgettable and buggy game with gameplay that got repetitive. Such a good idea... but not well executed. So, I feel they're asking for too much to make a profit from that.
Yeah, I tried the Zombie U demo... It sounds like they're making excuses to not make games on an unpopular console.
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Hakudamashi

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