EA is still making games for Wii U, although it’s not half as committed to Nintendo’s latest console as it is to Microsoft’s or Sony’s current and next-gen systems. While EA spokesman Jeff Brown told Kotaku last week that the company currently has “no games in development for the Wii U”, the publisher’s chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen, confirmed this week that EA isn’t neglecting the platform completely.
Asked by an attendee at the Stifel Nicolaus 2013 Internet, Media and Communications Conference which console manufacturer will lead the next generation, Jorgensen said (via Polygon): “You know, I think Nintendo’s business was more [an] extension of their last console. We are building titles for the Nintendo console, but not anywhere near as many as we are for PS or Xbox. I think what the consumer will find is a lot more powerful gameplay with the new boxes that are coming out, and a lot of excitement, but it’ll remain to be seen as to the services associated with those as to how consumers decide which direction they might want to go.”
EA has given various reasons for its apparent lack of support for Wii U in recent months. FIFA 14 won’t appear on the console, with EA citing “disappointing” commercial results for FIFA 13 on the system. Madden NFL 25 isn’t being developed for Wii U either. Nor is the newly announced Need for Speed Rivals, or any other Frostbite 3 powered games (Battlefield 4, upcoming Mass Effect and Dragon Age titles), seemingly due to Wii U’s incompatibility with DICE’s engine. Frostbite technical director Johan Andersson told a gamer over Twitter earlier this month that Frostbite 3 “has never been running on Wii U”.
@mutedpenguin FB3 has never been running on WiiU. We did some tests with not too promising results with FB2 & chose not to go down that pathMay 6, 2013
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