Wii U — A Controller With a Screen, and 13.56 Million Sold

The Wii U launched in North America on 18 November 2012, at $299.99 for the Basic Set and $349.99 for the Deluxe Set. Europe followed on 30 November, and Japan on 8 December 2012, at ¥26,250 for the Basic Set and ¥31,500 for the Premium Set, tax included. North America, not Japan, came first.

Nintendo IR's regional sales data also gives the Wii U's first release as 18 November 2012 in the Americas. Its predecessor, the Wii, had likewise reached North America first.

A controller with a screen

Nintendo announced the outline of the Wii U on 8 June 2011, for release in 2012. At its centre was a new controller with a 6.2-inch 16:9 touchscreen, which became the Wii U GamePad. The same announcement promised HD output up to 1080p and compatibility with Wii games and accessories.

The Japanese date and prices were announced on 13 September 2012. The two sets differed as follows:

Both came with a GamePad and stylus; the Premium Set added a GamePad charging cradle, a console stand and other accessories.

In North America the black 32 GB console was sold as the Deluxe Set, with Nintendo Land in the box. According to Nintendo's specifications page, the console had a multi-core CPU based on IBM Power and a GPU based on AMD Radeon, and read both Wii U and Wii discs (not GameCube discs).

Less than a third of the forecast

Sales fell far short. On 17 January 2014 Nintendo cut its Wii U hardware forecast for the year to March 2014 from 9 million units to 2.8 million. In the same notice it revised its outlook to an operating loss, explaining that hardware had not reached the expected level in the year-end season and that high-margin software sales had fallen well short as well.

Nintendo IR's regional sales data, by fiscal year:

The lifetime total is 13.56 million consoles and 103.60 million games (table as of 30 June 2026): 6.49 million in the Americas, 3.34 million in Japan and 3.74 million elsewhere. The Wii had sold 101.63 million, so the Wii U reached about 13 percent of its predecessor.

End of production, and the Switch

Nintendo's Japanese Wii U page states that all production in Japan has ended; Game*Spark reported the notice on 31 January 2017. About a month later, on 3 March 2017, the successor Nintendo Switch launched simultaneously in Japan, the US, Europe and other regions.

The place to buy games lasted about six more years. According to Nintendo Support, Nintendo eShop sales on the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family ended on 27 March 2023 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (9 a.m. on 28 March in Japan). Re-downloads of purchased games remain available for the foreseeable future. According to Nintendo's North American support, online play and other online features ended on 8 April 2024.

For Nintendo's hardware as a whole, see Nintendo; for the wider story, the game consoles timeline.