The Wii U has been dealt a significant blow as UK retailer Asda suspends its stock of the struggling console.
Asda, the second-largest grocer in the UK, will no longer stock the Wii U console in any of its 555 stores. The console is also currently listed as “out of stock” on the Asda Direct website and it is currently unknown whether the company intends to replenish the online stock. Wii U games and accessories will also no longer be stocked in Asda stores, though a very small number of older items, such as FIFA 13 and other launch window titles, will continue to be sold on Asda Direct.
The move was confirmed by an Asda representative in a statement to CVG,
“Asda continues to offer customers a selection of Wii U games and accessories through Asda Direct, but these ranges are currently not on offer in Asda shops.”
The move was foreshadowed by Asda’s recent decision not to stock the latest Wii U release, Pikmin 3, which has been a significant critical and commercial success, holding a score of 88 out of 100 on Metacritic.com and achieving number 2 on the UK all formats charts.
Asda is still offering pre-orders of the Xbox One and Playstation 4, and continues to stock the PS3, Xbox 360 and PS Vita both instore and online, alongside hundreds of games, including recent releases such as The Last of Us. The Nintendo 3DS, on the other hand, has suffered a similar fate to the Wii U, with online stock of the handheld suspended, though it will still be available in Asda stores across the UK along with a variety of games.
The move to suspend stocks of the Wii U is especially significant given Nintendo’s recent efforts to “re-launch” the console before the holiday period, though Nintendo still seems confident that it can reverse the Wii U’s fortunes. In a statement to CVG regarding Asda’s decision, Nintendo stated:
“Nintendo UK does not comment on specific business practices with individual retailers. However, as we have seen with Nintendo 3DS, software sells hardware, and with titles such as Wonderful 101, Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD and Super Mario 3D World already announced for this year as well as the recently released Pikmin 3 and New Super Luigi U having reached number 2 and number 6 in this week’s chart respectively, we are looking forward to the year ahead on Wii U.”
There is a ray of hope for the floundering console. Asda submitted an updated statement to CVG about the decision, suggesting that the retailer would support the Wii U and its games in the future if it achieves greater success:
“Asda will stock [Wii U] games on a title by title merit basis as they come along through Asda Direct. We will continue to support Nintendo as a format holder partner.”
The news is a significant blow to the struggling console, which has already fallen short of Nintendo’s sales projections, having sold only 3.5 million consoles by the end of March 2013, far below the initial estimate of 5.5 million units.
