Crytek actually had Crysis 3 up and running and near completion on Wii U before the game was canned, the developer has revealed.

It "had to die", said Crytek boss Cevat Yerli, because there was a lack of interest in the project from publisher EA and Nintendo.

"We did have Crysis 3 running on the Wii U. We were very close to launching it," Yerli told Venture Beat. "But there was a lack of business support between Nintendo and EA on that.

"Since we as a company couldn't launch on the Wii U ourselves - we don't have a publishing license - Crysis 3 on Wii U had to die."

It's not the first time that Crytek has mentioned a Wii U version of the game. In January, Yerli said that he would have "loved" to see the game running on Wii U.

"It's a business decision between EA and Nintendo," he explained. "I'd love to see it on Wii U, but what I love to see and what gets done at the end of the day are two different things.

"If that business decision doesn't make sense, or seems to not make sense for them, it's... not possible for us to make it."

It's unclear how long ago the Wii U version was cancelled. Crytek stated last year that there was a "fat chance" of Crysis 3 appearing on Wii U, but at the time failed to elaborate.