The announcement of Bayonetta 2 as an exclusive to Wii U caused controversy among fans, with comments even stretching to killing the developers. Developer Platinum Games, speaking to Edge Magazine, said that the deal with Nintendo should not be a surprise.

"The biggest failure for Platinum so far, the one that really sticks in the mind, is the port. At the time we didn't really know how to develop on PS3 all that well, and whether we could have done it ... is irrelevant: we made the decision that we couldn't. But looking back on the result, and especially what ended up being released to users, I regard that as our biggest failure," Director Atsushi Inaba said to Edge. The PlayStation 3 version of Bayonetta suffered from framerate issues; the port was done by a team at Sega, Bayonetta's publisher. Heading to Metacritic reveals a strong reception for the PlayStation 3 port despite the aforementioned issues.

Regarding Wii U's exclusivity, Platinum Games maintains in the full interview available in the physical copy of Edge that it was looking for another publisher. The deal with Sega covered five games, ending with Anarchy Reigns. The suggestions among media was Sega could not afford to back the game following its financial troubles. The company announced that it focuses on four core intellectual properties: Sonic, Football Manager, Aliens, and Shogun: Total War.

Bayonetta, for Nintendo and Sega, may not be a multi-million selling title like Super Mario. However, it appeals to a definite niche, and it is that niche causing the outspoken reaction to the sequel.

The deal was seen as a coup for Nintendo. The company previously struggled to gain third-party exclusives. Ubisoft's Rayman Legends and ZombiU are also exclusive to the console, both receiving positive receptions from early impressions. ZombiU is being bundled with consoles in the UK alongside the black console.

Wii U releases Nov. 18 in the U.S and November 30 in the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.