Batman: Arkham Origins DLC Cancelled For Wii U

Me: Knock, knock.

You: Who's there?

Me: Warner Bros. has given up on their campaign DLC plans for the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins.

You: This is not how "knock, knock" jokes work.

Nintendo of America confirmed today that Batman: Arkham Origins won't be receiving the planned story DLC. They sent the following email to gamers who bought the game's Season Pass:

Hello,Thanks so much for your support of Batman: Arkham Origins on Wii U.We are contacting you today because you purchased the Batman: Arkham Origins Season Pass for Wii U. We hope you’ve been enjoying the content that has been delivered thus far. Based on demand for Downloadable Content on the system, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has made the decision to remove its offering of the upcoming new story campaign for Wii U. As a result, we will be crediting the entire $19.99+tax cost of the Season Pass back to your Nintendo eShop account. You will still be able to enjoy the content already released thus far.We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your support of the game.Sincerely, Nintendo of America Inc.

Warner Bros. explained the decision in a separate statement to IGN and other sites. It seems that the demand for the DLC on Wii U was too low to justify the resources needed to develop and release it.

Arkham Origins' post-launch DLC includes several new costumes, a Black Mask Challenge Pack and Initiation. Initiation, the most recent add-on, follows a younger Bruce Wayne as he completes his training in Asia.

In December, WB began teasing a new DLC campaign for the game. This DLC is centered around a Humanitarian of the Year award ceremony at Wayne Manor and will apparently star Mr. Freeze. The new campaign is said to focus on an important relationship in Batman lore. The add-on sounds substantial so it's a shame that Wii U owners won't be able to play it.

I suspect Wii U players are more concerned about what this means for WB's long-term support of their console. The publisher has supplied the Wii U with a few core games released on other platforms - such as Injustice Gods Among Us and Arkham City - but haven't announced any others. It's possible that they'll stick to releasing family-friendly games like Lego The Hobbit.

Earlier this week Nintendo announced that Wii U sales were down 36% last quarter. The company is hoping that 2014 releases like Mario Kart 8 and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will help them stay in the console race. Nintendo has to be at least a little concerned that nearly all their big releases for this year are being published and developed internally, though.

Pete Haas

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.