Wii U TVii European Launch Cancelled

Nintendo’s plan to launch the Wii U TVii service in Europe has been officially cancelled, with the company citing the “extremely complex nature” of localisation as the sticking point.

TVii launched in Japan and North America in 2012 as a rival to the home entertainment systems of both the PS4 and Xbox One. The TVii Channel allowed users to search for streaming video content and watch live programming from their TV provider on both the TV and the Wii U Gamepad.

The service was originally planned to launch across Europe in 2013, but was constantly pushed back. Nintendo has now released the following statement that confirms that TVii will not make it to the European continent:

At Nintendo of Europe, we continue to challenge ourselves to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all to enjoy. Due to the extremely complex nature of localising multiple television services across a diverse range of countries with varied licensing systems, regrettably we have taken the decision not to launch the Nintendo TVii service within the European region. Although on this occasion we did not anticipate such challenges, we will always strive to develop a range of entertaining experiences for all our users to enjoy.

Nintendo has, however, announced a new video-on-demand service to European customers, called the Anime Channel:

Nintendo of Europe has launched the Nintendo Anime Channel, a new video-on-demand service on Nintendo 3DS which offers users the chance to stream anime series from the likes of Pokémon, Kirby, and Inazuma Eleven. New content will be added regularly and access to this service is granted simply by downloading a free application from Nintendo eShop.

Source: BitGamer