When Electronic Arts officially announced the upcoming Madden NFL 25, it failed to mentioned one system you'd think the game would be released on: the Nintendo Wii U.
Sure, Nintendo platforms haven't traditionally been Madden strongholds, but the Wii U is barely a few months old. Considering EA usually throws the series on pretty much every single console on the market, why wouldn't it be available on the newest one?
Apparently, Nintendo and the Wii U are making just that bad an impression. Speaking to Nintendo World Report, EA confirmed Madden NFL 25 won't be arriving on the Wii U and sent out the following statement:
"We will not be releasing a Wii U version of Madden NFL in 2013. However, we have a strong partnership with Nintendo and will continue to evaluate opportunities for delivering additional Madden NFL products for Nintendo fans in the future."
When the Wii U launched, it did have a version of Madden 2013 as a launch title, but even that title was missing features compared to the versions on other, older consoles. Overall, EA has released four Wii U games, though none of them has been an original effort.
The company says it has "a strong partnership" with Nintendo, but all you need to do is take one look at the past few months of Wii U sales to see why Madden NFL 25 won't be arriving. Since the holiday rush, Wii U sales have been abysmal, and EA isn't the only third party keeping its distance. Even the Nintendo 64 received Madden updates, so this announcement is a big deal.
Earlier this year, Sega announced it had canceled the Wii U version of Aliens Colonial Marines, while Ubisoft delayed Rayman Legends and revoked its exclusivity. Even while confirming Call of Duty: Ghosts for next-gen systems, there are questions over what that means for the Wii U. There will no doubt be some noteworthy third party titles on the system down the line, but it's looking, once again, like Nintendo will have to rely on its own software to give its system life.
