Nintendo denies rumor it plans to cease Wii U production

Nintendo has denied it plans to cease production on Wii U consoles, after rumors to the fact circulated yesterday.

A spokesperson for Nintendo, speaking with Japanese site IT Media, said the report was not based on an announcement from the company.

“From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production is scheduled to continue," on Wii U.

On March 22, Japanese newspaper Nikkei published a report stating companies producing select parts for Wii U have already stopped production.

Nikkei, according to a much clearer translation from Kotaku, said Nintendo would stop making the console to reduce inventory ahead of Nintendo NX's release.

Another reason cited was the console's lack of popularity compared to its predecessor which as of March 2015 has sold 101.52 million consoles worldwide (PDF). Wii U has sold over 12.6 million units lifetime as of December 2015.

Wii U titles would still be developed despite being a "difficult" endeavor due to its components, the report continued.

As we said yesterday, and Kotaku along with many other sites agree, Nikkei is a respected outlet and the leading financial publication in Japan and has rarely missed when reporting rumors in relation to Nintendo. That's just something to keep in mind.

Nintendo is expected to reveal its new console sometime around E3 2016, and many analysts and rumors stated previously Nintendo NX would be released as early as July 2016. However, reports since point toward a release at the end of 2016 or early 2017.

The most recent rumor has The Legend of Zelda Wii U releasing for both NX and Wii U holiday 2016, or after the NX holiday launch window.