It’s official Wii U owners. Nearly four-and-a-half years after launch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is set to be the final first party title for release on the dual screened system. Not including the Virtual Boy, this gives the Wii U the honor of shortest lifespan of any Nintendo console to date, which historically receive five years of support or more before first party development ceases.
The news was confirmed today by Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who spoke to Polygon following the Switch launch event in New York City last Friday. The full statement reads as follows:
“From a first-party standpoint, there’s no new development coming after the launch of the legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. We really are at the end of life for Wii U.”
Fortunately Wii U titles will still be sold in the Nintendo eShop and online support for the waning system will continue for the foreseeable future, meaning loyal fans who still like settling their arguments in Smash and splatting the competition in weekend Splatoon tournaments don’t need to worry about the good times coming to an end just yet.
“From our standpoint, sunsetting is quite some time into the future. The ongoing activity from an online standpoint on [Mario] Kart and Splatoon is significant. We’re going to continue to support that.”
While perhaps not the best news for current Wii U owners, there is a bright side. With Nintendo shifting the full force of its development efforts to the Nintendo Switch, we’ll likely see a more steady stream of new releases with lower periods of software draughts over the coming months and years.
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Written by Matthew Weidner
When it comes to playing and writing about video games, Matthew aspires to be the very best, like no one ever was. Writing for Nintendo Wire and the thought of one day finally achieving a perfect, no death Super Meat Boy run fills him with determination.
