Report: Nintendo is shutting down Wii U production this week

Nintendo is shutting down the production of new Wii U systems this week, according to several sources speaking to Eurogamer. This Friday will mark the last day of manufacturing for the console.

This information lines up with a prediction from an industry analyst earlier this year who said Nintendo would cease Wii U production before the end of 2016.

Nintendo moving away from the older system isn’t surprising in itself, considering a recent earnings report showed that sales of the system have slowed considerably in the past year, showing a decrease of 33 percent.

The looming release of Nintendo’s next console, the handheld-hybrid Switch, no doubt contributed to this decision as well. The Switch hits shelves next March and, unlike the Wii U, Switch won’t be backwards compatible with physical games from Nintendo’s past consoles. 

The Wii U first launched in 2012 and has sold slightly over 13 million systems as of September 30. Unsurprisingly, that number is considerably less than the 101 million Wii systems Nintendo sold, but it looks like even the GameCube outsold the Wii U by roughly 8 million. 

UPDATE: Though the company declined to comment when contacted by Eurogamer yesterday, a representative from Nintendo today told IT Media that there is “no change to our continuing production” in regards to the Wii U. The statement, translated from Japanese by Kotaku, says that despite the upcoming release of the Nintendo Switch, Wii U production is “scheduled to continue.”