Nintendo Gamers Don't Buy Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft Says

Nintendo consumers don't buy Assassin's Creed games in significant numbers, and as such, Ubisoft will not release more mature games for Wii U after this year's Watch Dogs. That's according to CEO Yves Guillemot, who told Game Informer that Ubisoft will instead focus on family oriented games for Wii U like Just Dance.

"It's very simple," Guillemot said when asked about Ubisoft's relationship with Nintendo. "What we see is that Nintendo customers don't buy Assassin's Creed. Last year [with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag], we sold in very small numbers."

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was released last November for Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. The game has shipped over 11 million copies across all platforms. But overall, the Wii U is not big business for Ubisoft. According to Ubisoft's latest data, Wii U sales made up just 3 percent of overall software sales, down a percentage point compared to the year prior. By comparison, the original Wii accounted for 11 percent of game sales last year.

Don't expect Ubisoft to give up on Nintendo altogether, however. Instead of leaving the platform behind, Guillemot said Ubisoft will adjust its emphasis, instead focusing on Just Dance games and "more of the types of games they are interested in." Just Dance 2015 is coming to Wii U this fall.

In the immediate future, Ubisoft is launching Watch Dogs for Wii U later this year. It will be the last "mature" game Ubisoft ships for the console for the foreseeable future. "[Watch Dogs] is coming to Wii U," Guillemot said. "It will be the only mature game we publish on it." Other Ubisoft games for Wii U that could be considered "mature" include launch title ZombiU, as well as Assassin's Creed III and Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

Also in Game Informer's interview, Guillemot says Ubisoft will support the Xbox 360/PS3/Wii generation of consoles through this year and next, but don't expect much support further out than that. "What we see is that this year is still fine for the PS3 and 360, but next year because they are selling very quickly, we'll move to the new hardware," he said. "After 2015, it will be hard for us to create games for those systems."

Last year, Xbox 360 and PS3 games generated the bulk of Ubisoft game revenue, making up 27 and 25 percent of Ubisoft's overall software sales, respectively.