The dearth of third-party titles may have spelled the death of the Wii U, according to an executive for Nintendo of America.

There have been speculations that the new Nintendo NX will replace Wii U once it is launched. However, this has not been confirmed by the Japanese company.

According to the report, Nintendo suffered nearly a $50 million operating loss in fiscal year 2016 as sales of the Wii U only reached a little over 200,000 units for the year.

Reginald Fils-Aimé, CEO of Nintendo of America, revealed that there are several factors which may explain why the Wii U did not sell as much as its predecessor.

In a news interview with Spanish site La Tercera, as translated by Nintendo Everything, he said that the company failed to get the message across regarding the concept of the Wii U. They also failed to showcase its capabilities, which would have maximized players' gaming experience.

"And that hurt us," he said. "Sales were also hurt, during the beginning of its lifespan, by the lack of games."

Nintendo only sold about 13 million Wii U units and although that might seem like a lot, the figures pale in comparison to the estimated 20 million units of Xbox One sold and 40 million PlayStation 4 units lapped up by consumers.

"What pleases us the most is that Wii U has the games with the best reviews and ratings from fans," he said.

Previously, a Twitter post from analyst Dr. Serkan Toto shared the news report from Nikkei that quoted Tatsumi Kimishima, new president of Nintendo, predicting the death of Wii U. Apparently, he believed that the console was too similar to its predecessor, the Nintendo Wii.