"Now more possible to do deep rich multiplayer games" on Wii U, says Kotick

Activision boss Bobby Kotick has said it's now possible to do "deep" multiplayer titles from the company on Nintendo platforms with Wii U, but has casted doubts over any potential marketplace with PlayStation Vita.

"Without telling you our title plans, it's now more possible to do deep rich multiplayer games – we need more clarity from Nintendo on the online capabilities, but we've had development systems for a while now and we're very enthusiastic about it," Kotick told The Guardian at E3.

"There will always be a need for specialised hardware to satisfy the needs of gamers. With the Wii U … from a development perspective, having a Nintendo device that is on parity with the other hardware from a graphics perspective was really necessary. For the kinds of games we create, it was becoming very difficult for us to support the Wii with the expectations that our gamers have.

"I think that the user-interface itself is very clever – there will be a lot of innovation to come from having the second screen."

But Kotick did admit to fears over whetever there was a market or not for a specialist handheld like Vita, although said that it was "a fantastic piece of hardware."

"Technically, we're super excited about what we can do on it, it's really something incredible. The question is, where is the market? I think the pricing was surprisingly affordable, the product itself is really great – so the questions is, is there a need in the marketplace for a very specialised portable device of that capability?," he said.

"Hopefully there will be because it's a really nice product and its very well differentiated from what you can get in even the most capable smartphone or tablet today."

Activision has already pledged support for Vita, promising to bring Call of Duty to the handheld.