Japanese media outlet Nikkei has published a brief report (in Japanese) today that Nintendo intends to cease manufacturing its Wii U console and Wii U accessories by the end of 2016.
The article was brought to our attention by Japanese game industry analyst (and occasional Gamasutra blogger) Dr. Serkan Toto, who took to Twitter today to note the report.
He went on to remind readers that while the Nikkei claims Nintendo intends to reveal a new console this year, it does not report any specific intent to actually begin selling the console this year.
It’s also worth noting that even if this report is confirmed, it doesn’t mean Nintendo will stop selling the Wii U this year, as the company may well have stockpiled hardware that it could continue to sell through for some time.
The company has made no secret of its efforts to prepare for the imminent launch of a new console, codenamed “NX”, though some developers feel it could be a little more open about getting development hardware out to people who actually want to make games for the platform.
Incidentally, in an interview with Time last December Nintendo chief Tatsumi Kimishima made an effort to pitch the NX as “unique and different” from the Wii U and sought to reassure the public that Nintendo would not “abandon” the more than 10 million Wii U owners.
“Of course we are working on NX and looking at the experiences we can bring to that platform,” he said. “But first our job at this point is to support the consumers who have purchase Wii U and make sure that they have software experiences available to them.”