Nintendo cancels Wii U's 'Project Giant Robot' as it focuses on the Switch

By Gabe Gurwin February 2, 2017

Project Giant Robot Brought to Life

Diving headfirst into development for the Switch meant that Nintendo would have to abandon some of its earlier projects, and “Project Giant Robot,” a Wii U title first seen at E3 three years ago, is among the causalities. The game has been unceremoniously canceled, with no plans to move it to the Switch.

“We made this decision after considering our overall product and development strategy,” Nintendo said in a statement to Polygon.

“Project Giant Robot” was a large-scale brawler for the Wii U, allowing players to customize their adorable, Transformers-like robots, smash cities, and battle other machines with slow, lumbering punches.The game never looked particularly impressive, though another underwhelming Wii U game, Star Fox Zero, was first shown off at the same time and eventually released in 2016.

This decision is in line with the company’s recent statements and actions regarding the Wii U console. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé confirmed in January that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be the last game Nintendo develops for the system. A short time later, production of the Wii U ended worldwide — at least it might become a collector’s item at a certain point.

For comparison, the original Wii also ended production shortly after its successor hit the market, but the Famicom, the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, didn’t end production until 2003. That is about 17 years after it initially launched.

The Wii U, however, has been on life support for the last few years. Its initial launch sales were very strong — about as strong at the original Wii — but tapered off quickly due to limited software support as well as the arrival of both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Will you be mourning the loss of “Project Giant Robot,” or are your eyes set on the future? Which game cancellation hurt you the most? Let us know in the comments!

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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