It hasn’t been an easy run for Wii U. With hesitation from EA , no support for next-gen engines and a simple “ maybe ” from some third-party publishers, the system hasn’t found much of a footing in the crowded console market.

“ We have just as many games coming out on Wii U this year as we did at launch. So we like the second screen.

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Despite that, one continued source of support for Nintendo’s console has been Ubisoft, who, even after taking a former exclusive multiplatform , has still been announcing games for Wii U and plans to continue doing so moving forward. Speaking to IGN at E3, Ubisoft senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key explained why the publisher still believes in Wii U, plus its focus on additional second screen experiences like mobile companion apps.Key explained that a big part of making that second screen experience worthwhile is adding mobile companion apps, which will be supported by most of Ubisoft’s upcoming titles, including Watch Dogs “It’s not necessarily next-generation, but it’s next-generation thinking,” Key said. “We want to extend the experience to whatever screen is handy. We have been looking for ways to take advantage of these second screens. Those companion apps are our first attempt at doing that.”“It’s one of the things we learned over the last couple of years, how powerful mobile can be,” Key continued. “It’s the same for the social space. We’ve experimented with social games, MMOs, mobile games. All the things that we’ve learned about monetization, about the sharing aspects, all those things that we learned from those other spaces, we’re seeing all of that now show up in these big AAA productions. For us, we believe that’s the future of social gaming. It’s not necessarily a genre that you become a part of.”Watch Dogs and Assassin’s Creed IV will hit Wii U later this year, with companion apps expected to hit mobile devices simultaneously. Be sure to read our impressions of Watch Dogs and thoughts on Assassin’s Creed IV , and look out for more from our interview with Key in the days to come.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.