CVG

Crytek has revealed that it's "working with Nintendo" and hasn't ruled out the possibility of making a Wii U version of Crysis 3.

In a wide-ranging interview published today, producer Mike Read told CVG the studio's gorgeous FPS sequel could yet appear on Nintendo's upcoming console, despite recent comments strongly suggesting otherwise.

"I wouldn't say there's no chance," he said. "I wouldn't say no chance. I mean the Wii U still doesn't have any kind of release [date] attached to it at this point. Who knows what the future will bring with it. I can definitely say that we are working with Nintendo, and that's about all I can say on that front.

"I wouldn't rule it out, but there has really been no official releases associated with the Wii U yet, and given that we're releasing Crysis in an eight month time period in February of 2013, we can't play off of what their schedules are. I wouldn't rule it out, but you know, it is a possibility."

Asked in May whether a Wii U version of Crysis 3 was a possibility, Crytek's director of creative development Rasmus Hojengaard told CVG: "We're not really talking about that now."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/359998/crytek-working-with-nintendo-crysis-3-wii-u-a-possibility/

In other words, Crytek is seriously considering the possibility, now - likely because Nintendo spoke with them and offered them something. Not likely to be money... but I could definitely see something like "Nintendo officially endorses the use of CryEngine 3 for Wii U development". After all, while CryEngine is available for licensing, relatively few studios are actually using it - they're all biasing towards Unreal Engine.

Meanwhile, Epic spoke warmly about the Wii U... and then decided that they're not going to officially support Wii U with Unreal Engine 4. A deal with Crytek benefits Nintendo by having an "official" engine fully supported for Wii U development, while Crytek gets the weight of Nintendo's support to encourage broader use of CryEngine.

Great now you can't even trust the devs x_x because i clearly remember that (aside the Crysis 3 comments) Crytek said that they weren't making any games for nintendo (platforms), i mean... ee... u_u

i thing nintendo it's working whith Crytek for 1party big title !!!

Imagining a New Zelda whith CryEngine 3

Well to be fair it seems like they still aren't. They just won't rule out the possibility of quickly porting something over. Working with just means talking to basically, discoussing the possibilities.

Good, it gives more hope.

Nah, I don't see it.

If the game is launching in 8 months and they haven't started yet, they won't be able to make it in time. And launching it later will mean a lot less potential sales, to the point where it may not look so good financially.

But, as Aielyn says, they may be talking about other things. If Retro is working on something else, Crytek could do another Metroid Prime... mind you, a First Person Adventure, not Shooter. With the help of Nintendo, the level design should be good (and Crytek could learn a bit of it) while the tech details would be handled by Crytek. It would also make their engine a more attractive option for WiiU developers.

Who wants to see Samus in a cloaked suit?

It's unlikely to be Zelda. Nintendo holds pretty close controls on Zelda since the CD-i debacle, and only ever give it out to very trusted developers.

Metroid, on the other hand, is a serious possibility. Nintendo has had good results from having Retro work on that series, and after the debacle of Other M, they'll be looking at how to revive the series properly. Crytek would be a perfect choice, since Retro clearly want to work on other things.

Another nice thought is that maybe Nintendo noticed the calls for Timesplitters 4, that Crytek UK wanted to do that but couldn't find a publisher wanting to fund it... and decided that it was a perfect opportunity to approach Crytek for a deal. Nintendo publishes Timesplitters 4 as a Wii U exclusive (complete with innovative Upad usage), and Crytek also releases Crysis 3 for Wii U. Nintendo basically gets a two for one deal out of it.

Based on what developers have been saying, and the fact that CryEngine is already ported, 8 months is probably enough time for porting the game. As long as there's no new content or new assets involved, the only real challenge is incorporating the Upad into the game in some way (even if just for map purposes). And note what Ubisoft has been saying about financial investment into Wii U development for their ports - if it's that cheap to port, then they probably don't have to sell much more than about 500,000 copies to break even, at worst (more realistically, they could probably break even at 300,000).

It's eight months 'til launch on the other platforms, and from interviews with developers it's well known that the last months are when the  developers have to work even more to ensure that they meet the release date and that the game is well done. So Crytek will need all their employees (or most of them) to finish the other 3 versions. It's very unlikely that they could make it for WiiU in time.

Also remember that the publisher is EA, not Crytek. If EA thinks they don't need this game on WiiU, because they are already supporting it with other games and they don't want to invest too much on the platform until they see how well it does, Crytek won't do it. On the other hand, if EA wants it on WiiU then Crytek will have to do it.