Yesterday, Eurogamer reported that the production of Wii U consoles was ending this week. Today, Nintendo says this is “not true.”
Eurogamer reported that multiple sources confirmed to the site that the final Wii U would roll off the production line this Friday. “Nintendo declined to comment when contacted about this article,” states Eurogamer’s original article.
Japanese site IT Media reports that a spokesperson for Nintendo said, “There is no change to our continuing [Wii U] production.” The spokesperson prefaced the denial by stating he or she didn’t know the particulars of the article, but clearly stated that the report that the Wii U was ending production “was not true.”
“Even though the Nintendo Switch is slated to go on sale, [Wii U] production is scheduled to continue.” In this reply, IT Media added that there are also upcoming Wii U titles planned for release.
This isn’t the first report that Wii U production was drawing to a close. Earlier this March, Japanese newspaper Nikkei published a report that the Wii U was soon ending production to make way for the Switch, then codenamed NX. Nintendo also denied that report, stating at the time, “From the next quarter and thereafter as well, production [of the Wii U] is scheduled to continue.”
The following month, president Tatsumi Kimishima said Nintendo would “greatly reduce the amount of Wii U systems produced and shipped.”
Nintendo has a history of denying reports that have turned out true. In 2012, for example, Nintendo denied a report on major Japanese newspaper Nikkei that stated the 3DS would be getting a new, larger incarnation. A few months later, the Nintendo 3DS XL was released, and Nikkei was proven correct.