Crytek
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| Private | |
| Industry | Video game industry Interactive entertainment |
| Founded | September 1999 |
| Founder | Cevat, Avni Yerli, Faruk Yerli |
| Headquarters | Frankfurt, Germany |
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Key people
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Cevat Yerli Avni Yerli Faruk Yerli |
| Products | Game engines CryEngine CryEngine 2 CryEngine 3 CryEngine (4th generation) Games Crysis series Far Cry Warface Ryse: Son of Rome Arena of Fate |
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Number of employees
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~700 (2014) |
| Subsidiaries | Crytek Black Sea, Bulgaria Crytek Budapest, Hungary Crytek Istanbul, Turkey Crytek Shanghai, China Crytek Seoul, South Korea Crytek USA, Austin, Texas Crytek Kiev, Ukraine |
| Website | Crytek.com |
Crytek is a German video game company, founded in 1999 by brothers Cevat, Avni, and Faruk Yerli, that is headquartered in Frankfurt. Crytek has seven other studios, in Kiev, Budapest, Sofia, Seoul, Shanghai, Istanbul and Austin.[1]
The company is best known for developing Far Cry and the Crysis series, the open world nature of their games which showcase the company's CryEngine, and for pushing the limits on PC specifications to achieve advanced graphics and gameplay. Their most recent major product is Ryse: Son of Rome and its supporting iteration of their CryEngine. Some of Crytek's current and past business partners include Electronic Arts, Mail.Ru Group, Ubisoft, Microsoft Studios, Nexon, Tencent, Amazon.com, Sony, Apple Inc., Nvidia, Intel, AMD, FMOD, Scaleform and Xoreax Software.
Contents
History[edit]
Far Cry[edit]
Crytek was founded by the Yerli brothers in 1999 in Coburg, Germany. Crytek first attracted publicity at the 2000 ECTS with their tech demo at the NVIDIA booth. For several years thereafter, they released numerous demos of a game called X-Isle, which ultimately evolved into Far Cry. On May 2, 2002, Crytek announced the game engine CryEngine. In 2003, Crytek attended the Game Developers Conference, where they showcased their new engine and its technology.
Also in 2003, Crytek was at ECTS again, where Far Cry was awarded "Best PC Game". In the same month, Crytek modified CryEngine to be optimized for AMD64. In February 2004, German police carried out a morning raid on Crytek offices, acting on an ex-intern's claim that Crytek was using software illegally. The police investigated for more software copies than licenses purchased, but no charges were pressed.[2] That same month, Crytek and Electronic Arts announced a strategic partnership. In December 2004, Crytek and ATI created a special cinematic machinima[3] to demonstrate the future of PC gaming.
Crysis[edit]
On January 23, 2006, Crytek announced the development of Crysis, promising that it would be an original first-person shooter with a new kind of gameplay challenge requiring "adaptive tactics".[4] The game later won several Best PC Game awards from E3 and Games Convention. In April 2006, Crytek moved to new offices in Frankfurt. The first public demonstration of Crytek's CryEngine 2 was on January 23, 2007, one year after Crysis was announced. It has been licensed by many companies such as Avatar Reality, WeMade Entertainment, Entropia Universe, XLGames, Reloaded Studios. On September 12, 2008, an expansion to Crysis entitled Crysis Warhead was released as a PC-exclusive game. In October 2011, Crysis hit consoles, allowing a fresh wave of players to get to grips with the original game via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.
Company expansion[edit]
On May 11, 2007, Crytek announced that their satellite studio in Kiev, Ukraine, had been upgraded to a full development studio, giving the company its second development studio. About a week after the upgrade of the Kiev studio, Crytek announced a new studio in Budapest, Hungary.
On July 14, 2008, Crytek bought Black Sea Studios and renamed it to Crytek Black Sea.[5] On November 17, 2008, Crytek opened an office in South Korea named Crytek, Ltd. [6] On February 3, 2009, Crytek purchased Free Radical Design, a British video game company known for the TimeSplitters series, and renamed the company to Crytek UK.[7] On January 17, 2013, Crytek officially opened an office in Istanbul.[8] On January 28, 2013, Crytek opened a new studio in Austin, Texas, Crytek USA, consisting primarily of former Vigil Games employees.[9]
CryEngine 3 and Crysis 2[edit]
On March 11, 2009, Crytek announced on the company's website that it would introduce CryEngine 3 at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, from March 25–27. This new engine was developed for use on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PCs.[10] On October 14, 2009, CryEngine 3 became available in trade flow for game developers.[11] On March 3, 2010, CryEngine 3 was made compatible with stereoscopic 3D technology.[12] On March 22, 2011, Crytek released Crysis 2, a direct sequel to the original game, in North America. The game was subsequently released in Europe on March 24, and in Australia on March 25.
Ryse: Son of Rome, Homefront: The Revolution and Crysis 3[edit]
At E3 2011, Crytek exhibited several new projects, including the action game Ryse: Son of Rome. On September 20, 2011, THQ and Crytek announced a partnership to develop Homefront 2.[13] After THQ filed for bankruptcy, Crytek acquired the Homefront franchise from THQ entirely on January 22, 2013.[14] On February 2012, Crytek announced a new cloud based social gaming network called Gface.[15] On April 13, 2012, Crytek released the CryEngine 3.4 SDK which brought full DirectX 11 support to the CryEngine SDK.[16] Crytek released Crysis 3 in February 2013[17] and Ryse: Son of Rome on November 22, 2013 as an Xbox One launch title.[18] The PC version of Ryse: Son of Rome was released in October 2014.[19]
Restructuring[edit]
In June 2014, reports surfaced that Crytek had missed wage payments and withheld bonuses for Crytek UK and Crytek USA employees, and the company responded that it was in a "transitional phase" as it secured capital for future projects, with a particular emphasis on online gaming. On 30 July 2014, Crytek announced a strategical deal where the rights to Homefront including Homefront: The Revolution and the Crytek UK staff were transferred to Koch Media. The team continued its work on the game as the new Deep Silver Dambuster Studios. Crytek USA was restructured to remain an engine support team while development of Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age was transferred to Crytek Frankfurt. The team that originally worked on the game started new ventures.
Latest projects[edit]
Crytek is currently working on three free-to-play projects: Arena of Fate, Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age, and updates for the previously released game Warface.
Subsidiaries[edit]
Current
- Crytek Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine, founded in 2006
- Crytek Budapest in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 2007
- Crytek Black Sea in Sofia, Bulgaria, founded in 2001 as Black Sea Studios, acquired and renamed by Crytek in 2008
- Crytek Seoul in Seoul, South Korea, founded in 2010
- Crytek Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey, founded in 2012
- Crytek Shanghai in Shanghai, China, founded in 2012
Defunct
- Crytek UK in Nottingham, UK, founded in 1999 as Free Radical Design, acquired and renamed by Crytek in 2009, made defunct in 2014.
- Crytek USA in Austin, Texas, founded in 2010, defunct in 2014
Games developed[edit]
| Year | Title | Publisher | Platform | Branch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Far Cry | Ubisoft | Microsoft Windows | Crytek Frankfurt |
| 2007 | Crysis | Electronic Arts | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade | Crytek Frankfurt |
| 2008 | Crysis Warhead | Electronic Arts | Microsoft Windows | Crytek Budapest |
| 2011 | Crysis 2 | Electronic Arts | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Crytek Frankfurt/Crytek UK |
| 2012 | Fibble – Flick 'n' Roll | Crytek | iOS, Android | Crytek Budapest |
| 2013 | Crysis 3[20] | Electronic Arts | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | Crytek Frankfurt/Crytek UK |
| 2013 | Warface | Tencent Holdings, Nexon, Mail.Ru, Trion Worlds | Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 | Crytek Kiev[21][22] |
| 2013 | Ryse: Son of Rome | Microsoft Studios | Microsoft Windows, Xbox One | Crytek Frankfurt |
| 2014 | The Collectables[23] | DeNA | iOS | Crytek Budapest[24] |
| 2015 | Arena of Fate | Crytek | Microsoft Windows and consoles | Crytek Black Sea |
| 2016 | Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age | Crytek | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One | Crytek Frankfurt |
References[edit]
- ^ "Crytek's Studios". 'Crytek'. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
- ^ "Crytek Raided".
- ^ "Crytek and ATI Demo".
- ^ "Crysis Announced".
- ^ Crytek bought Black Sea Studios
- ^ Crytek Opens South Korean Office
- ^ Crytek Buys TimeSplitters Dev. Free Radical
- ^ http://www.crytek.com/news/crytek-continues-to-expand-with-the-arrival-of-crytek-istanbul
- ^ "How Crytek hired the ex-Vigil team (and formed a new studio) based on one meeting". VentureBeat. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ "Crytek Announces CryENGINE 3". Crytek. March 11, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ "Crytek CryENGINE 3 trade begins". Hardwired. October 14, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ "CryTek Adds Stereoscopic 3D To Its Game Engine". ApertureGames. October 14, 2009. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
- ^ Kietzmann, Ludwig (2011-09-20). "Crytek developing Homefront sequel with THQ". Joystiq. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
- ^ "THQ Dissolved, Saints Row, Company of Heroes Devs Acquired". IGN. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
- ^ "Gface, Crytek-backed streaming game network, goes into beta". Joystiq. 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
- ^ "CryEngine 3.4 SDK, Crytek today announced the arrival of a feature-filled update to its award-winning game development solution, CryENGINE 3.". Crytek. 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
- ^ "Crysis 3 Release Date Announced". Gamespy.
- ^ "Xbox One to Launch on November 22, 2013 in 13 Markets". Xbox.
- ^ "Ryse PC release date and system requirements revealed". PC Gamer.
- ^ http://www.crytek.com/news/crytek-takes-aim-with-crysis-3--the-first-blockbuster-shooter-of-2013
- ^ "Crytek’s new game revealed to be Warface".
- ^ "Please welcome Crytek’s latest PC exclusive: Warface".
- ^ "Crytek and DeNA Squad Up to Launch Mobile Action Game The Collectables Worldwide". Crytek.
- ^ Kahn, Joradan. "Crytek shows off iOS tactical action game ‘The Collectibles’, coming later this year with MFi controller support". 9to5mac.
External links[edit]
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