CryEngine, for a time, stood as one of the thrilling recreation engines out there, persistently pushing the boundaries of what was graphically potential on PC {hardware}. Titles like the unique Crysis had been typically cited as benchmarks, demanding top-tier methods to actually shine, but delivering beautiful visuals that even right now maintain up remarkably effectively. For years, CryEngine was a big participant, underpinning a lot of high-profile video games that helped set up Crytek’s popularity. To this present day the imply “However can it run Far Cry” its nonetheless alive and effectively.
Nevertheless, the engine’s journey hasn’t been with out its twists and turns. Ubisoft, as an example, licensed CryEngine after they acquired the Far Cry IP, which later turned the premise of their in-house Dunia engine. Maybe probably the most notable shift got here when Amazon licensed the engine, rebranding it as Lumberyard and finally evolving it into the open-source O3DE (Open 3D Engine). At this level O3DE and CryEngine are very completely different engines, however based mostly off a typical core. In the meantime, Crytek themselves continued to make use of CryEngine for numerous titles, together with the Crysis collection, Ryse: Son of Rome, and extra just lately, in style multiplayer video games like Hunt: Showdown. Quite a few third social gathering builders have made use of CryEngine too, resembling Star Citizen (now on lumberyard), Prey (2017), a private favorite MechWarrior On-line and most just lately the critically acclaimed Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
Regardless of these latest launched video games, the way forward for CryEngine for builders is far muddier. In 2022, Crytek introduced a brand new model of Crysis within the works, solely to place it on maintain, accompanied by layoffs of 15% of their workforce. Whereas Crytek’s CEO has said a continued dedication to creating CryEngine, notably for Hunt: Showdown, their efforts appear targeted internally. CryEngine 5.7 LTS, launched in April 2022 was the final replace, resulting in hypothesis among the many group. Regardless that Crytek introduced CryEngine 5.11 for the Hunt video games, it was by no means publicly launched. Crytek have said on their discord server that the 5.7 LTS model would be the ultimate public launch of the 5.x department.
Key Hyperlinks
Crytek Press Launch About CryEngine 5.11
Crytek Layoffs Announcement Tweet
So, the place does that depart CryEngine? It’s clear that Crytek remains to be actively creating the engine, primarily for their very own titles like Hunt: Showdown. Nevertheless, the general public launch cycle and the broader availability to third-party builders appear to be in flux. Whether or not CryEngine can reclaim its former prominence as a extensively adopted engine past Crytek’s personal titles stays an open query, and solely time will inform what the long run holds for this once-groundbreaking know-how. You may be taught extra concerning the previous, current and way forward for CryEngine within the video under.
