Activision's head honcho isn't too pleased with the performance of Nintendo's Wii U early on in the lifecycle. In reporting "better-than-expected" financial results for Activision Blizzard's first quarter of 2013, Kotick specifically cited the Wii U's lackluster performance as one of the primary reasons for concern heading into the latter half of 2013.
"While we have had a solid start to the year, we now believe that the risks and uncertainties in the back half of 2013 are more challenging than our earlier view, especially in the holiday quarter," Kotick said. "The shift in release dates of competing products, the disappointing launch of the Wii U, uncertainties regarding next-generation hardware, and subscriber declines in our World of Warcraft business all raise concerns, as do continued challenges in the global economy. For these reasons, we remain cautious."
While Kotick was nice enough to mention other concerns alongside the Wii U, his specific mentioning of the Wii U could indicate why Call of Duty: Ghosts has not yet been announced for the system. Call of Duty: Ghosts was announced on May 1 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC, and "next generation platforms." Although some consider the Wii U to be a next-gen console, publisher oftentimes state the Wii U as a standalone platform while reserving "next gen platforms" for the PS4 and next Xbox.
The Wii U has shipped just 3.45 million units worldwide as of March 31, 2013. Nintendo acknowledged its struggles were due to a delay in development of subsequent software titles. It's certainly not helping that so many third-party developers/publishers are hesitant to work on the new(ish) console.
