Bethesda turns its back on Wii U for now

Bethesda has admitted that it has no intention of bring its titles, such as open world adventure series Elder Scrolls, to Nintendo’s Wii U for the time being.

Speaking to Joystiq at QuakeCon, the Skyrim and Dishonored publisher said the reasons for this were down to hardware limitations, and not the console’s market reach, which it has been struggling to boost for months.

“None of the game’s we’ve announced are being developed for the Wii U, so it’s guaranteed that none of those games are coming to Wii U,” said Bethesda VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines regards to the Elder Scrolls Online, Wolfenstein: The New Order and The Evil Within.

“Will any future ones come out? I can’t say for sure, in our near-term focus it’s not on our radar.”

Hines said that Bethesda’s intention is to “make the games that we want to make, on whatever platforms will support them as developed”.

“It’s largely a hardware thing,” he remarked. As an example, he said that the Elder Scrolls Online would have likely been released on Xbox 360, but that it just was not possible due to hardware limitations.

Other publishers, however, such as EA, have been less concerned about the console’s hardware and more about its slow console sales. EA claims to have no games in development for the system.

Looking ahead, Hines said that “it remains to be seen what the future holds” for Bethesda games on Wii U.