The Wii U just can't catch a break. After it was revealed earlier today that the Wii U is selling well below expectations and well behind its predecessor, the Wii, Warner Bros. also revealed Batman: Arkham Origins' new multiplayer mode will not be available for Nintendo's newest console.

This is a considerable blow to the Nintendo fan base as Batman: Arkham Origins is one of only a handful of multiplatform titles releasing on the Wii U, albeit now with a feature missing. At the same time, we didn't even know Arkham Origins was offering a multiplayer mode — although we speculated it might after Warner's Comic-Con panel — until earlier today.

For those that haven't heard, the multiplayer in Batman: Arkham Origins will be a rather unique 3 vs. 3 vs. 2 experience. One set of players will be part of the Joker's gang, one set will be aligned with Bane, and while those two rival factions are going at each other (in a traditional 3rd person shooter experience) they will also have to contend with Batman and Robin. The multiplayer trailer for Arkham Origins does a solid job of setting up how it all will work, so make sure to check it out.

So, as you might expect, Nintendo fans are likely disappointed to learn that Arkham Origins' multiplayer is skipping the Wii U. Nintendo's console could really use a boost, especially in terms of its multiplayer offerings, and Arkham Origins could have been it.

Batman Arkham Origins Robin Multiplayer

In fact, as it turns out, that lack of a multiplayer fan base was the main reason Warner Bros.' decided not to include multiplayer on the Wii U version of Arkham Origins. They decided that it was best to focus on "platforms with a sizable multiplayer audience."

Unfortunately, by leaving out multiplayer in Arkham Origins, Warner Bros. is ostensibly dooming the Wii U version to fail. We've seen this before, and we'll probably see it again: publishers avoid the Wii U because it doesn't have a large install base, and the Wii U doesn't have a large install base because there aren't many games available for the console. At least the crème de la crème of multiplayer titles — Call of Duty: Ghosts — is still coming to the Wii U with multiplayer in tact.

So, Arkham Origins might not be fully featured on the Wii U, but at the same time, multiplayer isn't necessarily an integral part of the Batman experience anyway. If Arkham Origins' single player is as solid as Arkham City's, then we doubt Wii U owners will mind too much.

How do you feel about Warner Bros. leaving multiplayer out of the Wii U version of Batman: Arkham Origins? Will that impact sales of the Wii U version?

Batman: Arkham Origins releases October 25, 2013 for the PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U.

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Source: Eurogamer