Ubisoft's Former Wii U Exclusive ZombiU Confirmed For PS4 & Xbox One Release

Now Nintendo fanboys who until yesterday claimed ZombiU was a great exclusive will start claiming that the game sucks so losing exclusivity over it doesn´t matter

I enjoyed ZombiU, but if it wasn't for the gamepad it would have been a pretty generic zombie game and the setting really worked due to the 2012 Olympics in London and the Queens 60th Anniversary. The Location had just the right hype at the time. Now I don't really see what it has going for it when XboxOne and PS4 has their own IPs which seem better suited for them. I fear that this game will be lost amongst a tide of other games and not really make the additional money it cost to port and update it with. A shame though because its really worth picking up on the wiiU.

@ DualWielding ...In really glad we had the exclusive when we did and I'm happy for people who have never played it to get a chance to see what it's like. However if I had an XboxOne I would rather play Dead Rising 3 and if I had a PS4 I would rather play the Last of Us. Unless Ubisoft do a really good makeover on this launch title, I think it will sell, just not well enough to justify porting it this long after initial release.

@Raptor78 London is still a great setting that differs from that of most other Zombie games regardless of what events are taking place there...

I'll stick with State Of Decay. Much better game!

I'm not sure why Ubi thinks this game will do much better on PS4/XB1. Maybe on Steam, where there's an audience who might appreciate survival horror with last gen visuals.

It's a decent game. The Wii U version is like $5 now though so there's not much reason for me to get another version of it if I ever felt like playing this.

Sad to see this great exclusive lose its exclusivity, considering that Ubisoft said they wouldn't port it due to how central the gamepad was. Just saying, Ubisoft Montpelier is a brilliant studio!

@CaviarMeths There's a larger install base of people who would play mature games. I think that's pretty much undeniable.

The game was extremely average, it was the new wii u gamepad gimmicks that made it interesting. I dont see why they even bother porting it

I will be surprised if it does well! I thought all playstaion and x box games are zombies ones! Well enjoy the sloppy seconds guys

@Ichiban I completely agree on that, its the only reason I turn on my old 360. That is a game I would love to play on my wiiu but I know it would never happen.

I wonder,after this flops because PS4 and Xbone owners were not willing to pay full price for an inferior port of a 2012 Wii U game that can be had for a fiver,will Ubisoft withdraw support saying "you're not buying our games" ?

@DualWielding Totally agree. Better more people can play it, rather than it will be forgotten. I quite like as survival horror game, it had it's flaw, but there is potential.

@C-Olimar London is a great setting, but ZombiU was set during the Olympics / pre Anniversary, that's all ment. The hype around these events really worked in favour of the game. Although it's still a great setting it does really date the game.

@DualWielding Funny thing is, I don't recall any praise made by anyone about the game, fanboy or not. It's always been referred to as decent at best, mediocre by most.

This is still one of my favourite games on the Wii U although I can't see it being nearly as good without the gamepad. It felt very like metroid to me exploring a ruined civilisation while for the most part being isolated from everyone else. Just without the badass abilities that Samus has.

I got it twice, once at launch, sold it, then again on sale for €9.99 on the eshop last year cause I never really got into it and wanted to try again, never did. Might now.

But I bet this will be a download only game with same graphics but gamepad stuff taken out.

I think this franchise has legs, just launched on the wrong system at the wrong time. It has potential to be a big and good zombie franchise set in different countries in each new game. We had our chance 3 years ago, Nintendo WiiU owners didn't bite, so let a bigger audience try it.

I prob will again cause I'm a sucka

ZombiU has always been one of my favourite Wii U titles along with Lego City Undercover and Wonderful 101. Better not forget Bayonetta...

It was an okay game, worth $10 but no more.
However Ubisoft deserve to make a profit on the game.

This really only matters if you don't have a Wii U. Anyone else who cares(that owns a Wii U) has probably already played it.

Hm, I'm interested to see how this turns out, but I'm having a hard time believing it will succeed.

I enjoyed this game, although I wasn't very good at it.
I think the reason in didn't do well at launch is partially fault of Western Reviewers giving lower score, because they reviewed it as a FPS game, when it should have been reviewed as a survival horror game.

@DualWielding Hah, reading the comments it seems you were right on this one

Why bother trying to revive Zombi now? If it's the same as ZombiU, minus the gamepad's features, it'll flop harder than The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. I just don't understand Ubisoft. They're more confounding than EA.

It could do fairly well. I wouldn't consider it a system seller or must hast have, per se, but it is a decent game that some Xbox One and PS4 owners will no doubt pick up on the side.

If this version was improved and came out on Xbox One and PS4 on launch, then I could have seen it doing really well, then, but it's already been out for a long time and it probably won't be a major improvement to begin with, especially if the Wii U version is cheaper.

I thought this game was just ok. The low field of view* made it hard to see the level around you clearly and it always felt like you had tunnel vision, which was a big problem for me. At least that's what I think was causing the problem. I simply couldn't get into and enjoy the game because of this—that's how big an issue it was for me and how much it distracted from my enjoyment of the experience. I wonder if they've fixed this...probably not. All the GamePad stuff I really couldn't care less about to be honest.

As a note; this low field of view one was of the main issues I had with the original Metroid Prime too, although the rest of that game was pretty top notch.

Also, this is where VR is going to be great for fps games, because it has a generally pretty high field of view in terms of the physical display alone, around the 90/110 degrees mark, which is already higher than the tiny floating box that is your TV/monitor and I also presume the game being displayed in the VR headset can additionally be done so in such a way as to make the field of view seem even wider.

*If you don't know what I'm taking about when I refer to the 'field of view' then read this: http://pyroteq.com/field-of-view-first-person-shooters/

I hope it bombs. Without the gamepad it's just another generic Zombie game. Great idea Ubisoft!

It'll have the exact same result on Xbone/PS4 as late ports do on Wii U.
There's barely anything to the game without the Gamepad and there are many, many more options in the same genre.

I didn't think much of the game even though ONM's review made it sound so great (one of the few times my tastes didn't align with theirs).

@SCAR392 Good thing there are a lot of people who don't own a Wii U but own a PS4 or Xbox One then.

@DualWielding It's a great game regardless of what platform is. That wont happen

Too many salty fans on here.

@Jazzer94
That's true. I still think it will do well, but not as well as if it would have launched with Xbox One and PS4, because people would have bought it more blindly that way, as did Wii U owners when it came out on that. The hype just isn't there, IMO. Who knows.

PS Vita and Smartglass will probably be a thing.

@DualWielding Im just going to find it funny when this game fails to meet their expectations in sales even in the ps4 or Bone ..the game was good and did great for a launch title ubi just wanted COD like numbers which isn't fair for a new IP on new system the game is good and has lots of potential but the zombie genre is pretty used at this point..if it would of stayed the alien invasion game it was debuted as it would of done over a million easily this game will be a dud on any system better graphics wont help it

@DualWielding Didn't take long for the first trolling comment, lol.
But yeah, it works both ways.

This title certainly won't benefit from lots of people downplaying it on other platforms before this came to light, that's for sure.

Now, it'll have one more headwind - that of Nintendo fans downplaying the release!

It's a shame, the Zombi franchise had potential.

@DualWielding Zombie U made excellent use of the Gamepad but it was far from being a great game. As shown by its scores - ranging from below average to very good.

It was originally Killer Freaks - essentially a 360 budget game ported and modded to make use of the Wii U and gain launch sales. It was never a big AAA budget title as Ubisoft like to pretend and it would never have sold on the PS3 or 360 so Ubisoft have little to complain about.

It sold pretty well for clearly a budget new IP launch.

I'll just say this: SOME of the comments here make no sense whatsoever.
Anyway, I think the game will do fairly well on the other systems, but it's not like there was any much demand to warrant a port. I guess we'll see.

I'll be interested to see if the PS4/xbone ports are just sloppy or if they decide to put some effort into it. And to see how well it sells when it's been available on wii U for nearly 3 years.

Also worth noting Ubisoft didn't make this game for wii U from scratch. They were originally making it as a PS360 game and decided to repurpose it as a wii U game. Albeit a game that made good use of the gamepad and deserved to sell well, even if it was a fairly average game. At least it wasn't more than just a lazy 360 port with wii U specific bugs and missing features - the wii U's early library sure had enough of those.

I think it's gonna sell really well on ps4 and xbone (and prob ps3 and 360 I'd say). It'll be a generic fps without the gamepad and Ubisoft will want the assassin creed and COD crowd to buy it. It just might work if they actually update the graphics and online. They might

@Discostew exactly, these idiots are getting far too handy with that word. It's just such a shame that this is the way of the internet, you go onto a comment section such as this and lo and behold, a troll approaches using his ignorance and low intellect trying to get some sort of reaction, the first comment, no less.

@CaviarMeths what makes you think steam has "last gen" visuals?

Enough with zombies already. I, for one, have had my fill; I can't even stand The Walking Dead anymore.

So I'm guessing this will release November time?

And the patch to fix it sometime in January?

Considering the Wii U specific features were the only thing going for this game, since it's otherwise a rather generic zombie survival game... I would say it's going to drown in an ocean of red.

That picture is disturbing 😯 I don't like this type of thing.
Just fluffy kittens and sweet bunnies for me. I'm a delicate flower

Given the larger install bases I reckon it'll sell a couple of hundred thousand copies.maybe not huge but enough to put the combined sales from all platforms over a million.im more interested in finding out if it's tantalus porting and if so what game were getting in return.

Ubisoft: "ZombiU didn't do as well as we hoped so were not going to create a sequel or add anything to it."
ditches sequel and starts porting the game without the controls that made it good in order to sell more on other consoles

Why make a whole new game that will cost money when you can just try and re-release an old game for a few more dollars? I liked Ubisoft, but it's this kind of stuff that make me hate these large development companies.
Since they're re-releasing the first one, I would say the best we can hope for is a real Zombi2 sequel down the road, but it'd probably be for PS4 or Xbox one anyways since they stopped developing games for the Wii U. Or maybe the NX? But that's an even bigger longshot.

@Discostew though not many give it praise, it was still one of the titles that many used for exclusives games.

Is this the Tantalus port?

Anyone hear anything else about their infamous port TO Wii U?

Didn't the non Nintendo community laugh at this game originally? I don't remember seeing sony and microsoft sites clamoring to get this. I hope it sells well and the sequel still goes to wiiu though.

I am concerned that it will drown next to the other zombie games already out on the Twins. So Ubisoft can Nintendo fans get something not just dance? I'd like the AC Chronicles games on wiiu personally.

Why would they waste time and money porting the game when they could make a much better sequel? I've seen nothing but mixed reviews about this game and I still can't justify buying it, even at $13. Of course, that's also because I want games like this and Splatoon to have off tv play...

@Ryu_Niiyama I think it's always gone up as one of those games you might enjoy if you only have a Wii U. I actually chose RE: Revelations over ZombiU, so I don't see it drawing people away from the better zombie games already on XB1 and PS4.

@eaglebob345 The game pad usage and the permadeath concept was interesting enough for a non Zombie gamer like myself to bite, but I don't think that's enough to get the numbers Ubi is likely looking for. I just wish they'd come up with something that new at this point. That isn't a derivative of AC (watch dogs).

PS4 and XBOX 1 users will skip it purely because it was originally a Wii U game and they will see it as incredibly inferior without any consideration given to the actual game. I thought it had a refreshing take, the 28 Days Later of zombie games. Although if given the choice between Dying Light and Zombi I wouldn't consider Zombi at all. I would love to see it fail so Ubi can stop blaming install base for failure instead of not fully investing talent into a new IP. if anything the title ZombiU tells me they had an decent idea and instead of building a franchise they built and tried to sell an exercise in Wii U development. It reminds me a lot of Little Deviants for Vita in that it was a title that was seemingly designed as a demonstration of how hardware features could be used, but fell short of delivering an experience that felt like a cohesive design.

That image is very disturbing for a site that is also used by young children.

I don't mind that Ubisoft pulled a Capcom and port an exclusive to other consoles at a later date like with RE4 and RE: Revelations. What I fear is Ubisoft making a sequel to Zombi and exclude any Nintendo systems like with RE: Revelations 2 and every main series Resident Evil game after 4.

@Hints_Whispers Trust me, as a father myself, kids nowadays seen much worse than this... This doesn't disturb them in the least. Most of the time, it's actually the parents that get overly upset by stuff like this.

Although the original game was actually a brave effort from Ubisoft to introduce a completely new IP on a console that was still trying to make a dent in market shares, it was never going to be a game that was going to sell big. Not everybody likes zombie games and then there's the whole thing about Nintendo gamers not buying third party games, or at least not buying enough third party games, which is at least partially true. It makes the struggle to gain some profit even harder.
Having said that, I think Ubisoft are deluding themselves if they think this game is going to recover some of those losses if they re-release it on other platforms. They can do a bit of graphics upscaling to make it look nicer, but ripping out the pretty much integrated GamePad functionality will turn a slightly above average zombie game with some interesting gameplay mechanics into a slightly above average zombie game with nothing to differentiate it from the whole range of far better zombie games available on those platforms, so I can't see this succeeding in any shape or form.
When I heard of the rumor concerning this for the first time, I thought it was going to be reworked to make use of Xbox SmartGlass and the PS Vita respectively and to me the difficulty for Ubisoft in that was that not everybody owns a PS4 and a Vita, so then the better option would be the Xbox One version, since almost everybody has a smart phone or a tablet, so it's easier to make the game work with SmartGlass.
Since there would have been this difference, I already thought that it was going to be very hard for them to make it work, but now that we know that second screen functionality will be left out altogether, I'm pretty sure that this game is going to bomb in a gigantic way sales-wise and it will more than likely mean that the IP will be shelved or scrapped, never to be seen again.
Which is a shame, because it wasn't really as bad as some people make it out to be. To me there are a lot of unfair comparisons made by the masses. like comparing it to Left 4 Dead, which is of course completely ridiculous. Some of these people were probably expecting a different type of game altogether, but Ubisoft brought in some interesting mechanics to set it apart from other games in the genre and you really need to go into the game with an open mind instead of trying to compare it with other zombie games because it is completely different and in my humble opinion it deserved more praise (and sales) than it got in the end.
Be that as it may: this last ditch effort will probably not do all that much to rectify the situation...

@MightyKrypto — Yes, good parents get overly upset about things that disturb and desensitize their children. You might not think young children are affected by these things, but they have tough skin and mushy hearts and minds. It's our job to protect them even when they don't think they need to be protected. There's a reason games like these are rated M.

I wonder if it's going to have the muddy textures and glitches that plagued the Wiiu version?

@Hints_Whispers Then why write this? "That image is very disturbing for a site that is also used by young children."

@TwighlightAngel — Because I want the image taken down. It was unprofessional and insensitive to use in the first place. From my experience with this site, it's usually family friendly. I feel safe browsing it with my kid nearby. That image changes everything. It turns the site into something else. Somewhere that's too harsh for the kiddos. I don't think that's what the NintendoLife staff is actually going for.

Can't fault Ubisoft for porting it over. The way I see it, they are a business and their one main objective is profit. Given the time/effort/money that was put into the project, nothing wrong with wanting a decent return on investment.

@DualWielding Haha, as if. I feel that ZombiU is a great exclusive, but the fact that it's being ported doesn't make me magically hate the game now. It's my favorite title on the Wii U, arguably my most favorite video game of all time.

There's no getting around it anymore for me. In order to truly experience what the gaming world has to offer I now need to own a Sony (can't stand MS) and a Nintendo console. It's the best of both worlds. If this port succeeds and a sequel is released, I will need to play it. I loved ZombiU. I just don't see 3rd party support coming back to Nintendo for some time to come.

@Hints_Whispers "good parents get overly upset about things that disturb and desensitize their children."
Than you and i have 2 very different opinions on what makes a good parent. Shielding your kids from this kind of stuff doesn't make you a good parent, helping your kid to understand the proper context does. Kids know violent stuff exists, and you can't always shield them from it. So it's best to help them understand.
And the 'fact' that violence in movies and videogames disturb and desentisize kids is in my opinion the biggest lie of the 21st century!

I'm sure it will be amazing even without GamePad. I don't think the GamePad features were THAT irreplaceable, although, after being spoiled with the GamePad features, I would still probably buy the Wii U version. Buy it today, or buy later, I just hope, that we could have more Zombi (U).

But even more I am hoping, that Wii U would get just one FPS adventure, that was made for gyro controls and also have enemies tuned for gyro as well, meaning a lot more faster and aggressive enemies leading to even more scary games.

Haha, Ubisoft made a huge mistake titling this game "Zombi". Not only does it sound out of place, but they clearly didn't intend to take the "U" out of ZombiU. I guess they were hoping to make a legendary third-party game for the Wii U.

I just dont see this selling unless they put a ton of work into remaking it. The best parts of the game were because of the gamepad.

I wonder what Ubi will say when this fails to sell as much on XB1 and PS4 as it did on Wii U?

Imaginative title

The only problem ZombiU ever had was being rushed, don't know how the graphics will land with PS4 XBone owners. They weren't exactly pushing the Wiiu hardware so I wonder if they are planning on upgrading them? How much does that cost vs how much can they sell?

@ningeek185 ZombiU was the sequel (spiritualy) to the classic Ubisoft game Zombi which I thought was a fantastic version of Dawn of the Dead.

Hey, if this leads to a sequel, I'm all for it. ZombiU is fantastic.

Well, the gamepad integration is the only thing good about this game. Anything else is just mediocre at best. I don't see why they port the game for the other consoles.

I think that Zombi U could have been profitable if it hadn't had gone through 3 revisions (from Killer Rabbids on 360/PS3 to Killer Freaks to Zombi U).

Zombi U is a great survival horror game, its strong point was the atmosphere it created but some of that is due to the GamePad additions, so I'm not sure how well that will translate to PS4/XBO.

Recent history has shown that games that jump from Nintendo consoles to other consoles don't do too well. Ubisoft is working to become the next THQ, I guess. (See DeBlob, uDraw).

Go away ubisoft, no one likes you.

Maybe Ubisoft will make Zombi great with Xbox Smartglass lol

I just recently bought the game and the game is good, definitely deserved better reviews, and I don't even usually play survival horror games. I wanted to get through with only 1-2 survivors in my first playthrough (silly me), but hordes always get me -_-

The game was not initially made for Wii U but Ubisot did pretty much modify it nicely to the 2nd screen experience on Wii U. Gamepad integration is pretty vital to the atmosphere as well as functions, so taking that away might very well take away its uniqueness. I would have loved gyro aiming though in the Wii U version, so much better, especially since I am coming out of Splatoon mode.

Lol @ Ubi if they think people will care about this when Ps4/xb have games like Dying Light, Dead Rising 3, Outlast, and DEAD ISLAND...which means they already have "zombie melee" well cornered in their markets. ZombiU without the tense Gamepad elements is mediocre at best, tedious and boring at worst.

@DualWielding Zombi U was great because of the Game Pad. It's what makes it awesome. It's like porting MadWorld or other amazing exclusives. The specific control scheme made all the difference.

@Raptor78 Oh, okay.

That's nice. More of the people that are likely to appreciate it will have access to it then.

@Technosphile
>I'm expecting something closer to an outright sequel
>day one buy

Buckle up for disappointment!

@DualWielding

You ps4 or xbox fanboy or whatever.... You are celebrating for claiming a title which I bet you said that is not good in the past. If you tested it and it is good.... I have to tell you.... NO gamepad b@ch@s. Have fun with your 21 years old controller...

Pretty sure this is a port with some changes to support other platform features. I know the developer and had the chance to work on this (way too busy as always)

I wouldn't expect them to drop it. It was a rushed launch game that actually did have some interesting ideas beyond the GamePad interactions which were exciting at the time. It had some potential and they already put a bunch of resources into it which probably didn't pay off well at all. Why drop it entirely?

Will be sort of fascinating to see what they do with it to stand out 4 years further past the already declining interest in Zombies. That group and the group on Rayman were very creative and inventive and I'm sure there will be some notable items.

If Wii U advocates want to champion something, the GamePad features are still going to be unique to the Wii U, no? It better look a whole lot better now though!

@Royalblues I prefer the gamepad controller and I find my list of preferred controllers to be the reverse of what your is mainly due to the natural adoption of the DS/3DS controls. It just became second nature to me. But its just a personal choice. To me the most uncomfortable controller I have evet used has to be the range of Sony controls. To say companies arnt making games for the wiiu due to the controller, yet clearly have no issue adapting games to the 3DS / DS seems ridiculous to me. Sure other reasons will affect porting but controls doesn't seem like one of them.

@Royalblues

The reason for keeping the same controller is lack of ideas, lack of innovation and lack of imagination and adventurous mood. You can't compare those companies. Even on their success they stole the idea off tv play from Nintendo.

I'm fun of innovation. The day that Nintendo will work for 3rd parties this will be the and of gaming for me.

And sales will almost definitely be eeeeeeven worse.

why buy for $60 on ps/xb if you can get for less than $20 on the U?

Ubisoft recently had poor financial results