According to "multiple developers" speaking off the record to news site Gamasutra, Nintendo are operating a "minimum sales" policy on their WiiWare service, where developers only see profits if their games sell a certain amount.
These developers claim that, in the US, a WiiWare title is tasked with selling "in the mid-four figure range", while in Europe, the bar is set a little lower. If a game sells under this number? The developers don't get paid.
While Gama speculate that this policy was originally introduced to stop the WiiWare service being flooded with shovelware (oh, the irony), they then mention that "some lower-selling WiiWare games may have done worse than Nintendo expected".
Indeed, one small studio they spoke with reckon they'll never hit the threshold, and as such, won't ever get paid.
We contacted Nintendo for comment, but they would only say "Nintendo does not discuss its internal business dealings."
Report: WiiWare's Minimum Sales Threshold Affects Developers [Gamasutra]