Crysis and Far Cry creator Crytek has revealed its intent to focus more on consoles and move away from creating PC-exclusive titles due to the "huge piracy" problems of the platform.

"We are going to support PC, but not exclusive anymore," Crytek president Cevat Yerli told PC Play. "Similar games [to Crysis] on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more. It was a big lesson for us and I believe we won't have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future."

The studio had previously revealed it was working on at least one console title and a non-FPS game along with the still-underway efforts to bring its CryENGINE 2 technology to consoles.

The Crytek president noted that piracy had significantly hurt the retail... Read more

"Porting CryENGINE 2 [was] not as hard as we expected."

Harald Seeley is Crytek's engine business manager, and by his estimation, things couldn't be looking better for his company's venture into console development.

While work on the console version of CryENGINE 2 only began after Crysis shipped in November, it is now in a fully operational state. Graphically it appears somewhere between mediun and high detail as compared to Crysis on the PC, and the team hopes to support game worlds as large as those found in its flagship title.

But will Crysis be heading to consoles?

"We're certainly looking at it and considering it," said a tight-lipped Seeley. The studio is currently debating if such a project is the best use of its time. Among... Read more

A feature film based on Crytek's platinum-selling sci-fi FPS Crysis (PC) is in the planning stages, reports Kotaku. "A Crysis movie is definitely planned," revealed Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli. "We are in active talks already. I think we will close this topic before the end of this year."

A film based on Crytek's previous title, Far Cry, is currently in post-production. It was directed by the ever-reviled Uwe Boll before he resigned from big-budget projects, and guest stars Anthony Bourdain, the world-traveling maverick chef.

Though Boll's past efforts have transformed Sega's House of the Dead and Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege franchises, among others, into poorly received box office releases, Yerli is still eager to see the film.

"Unfortunately, we have not been involved in the film since very early when it was a script," explained the CEO. "However, I think the script changed and improved radically since then, at least I hope it has, since I can't wait to see the movie."

Other topics discussed by Yerli included the possibility of Crytek being acquired by a larger publisher--"If it were a cultural fit, yes, but we would have strong... Read more

During an awards ceremony last night, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences named Infinity Wards' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, X360) as 2007's Overall Game of the Year. The title also took three other awards: Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play.

Valve's The Orange Box (PC, PS3, X360) was named Computer Game of the Year, while Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Game Play Engineering, and Character Performance all went to Portal, one of the three new titles contained within the bundle.

Harmonix's Rock Band (PS2, PS3, X360) was honored as Family Game of the Year along with awards for Outstanding Innovation in both Gaming and Soundtrack. Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) took Handheld... Read more

Publisher Electronic Arts posted a net loss of $33 million over its third quarter ending December 31, according to the company's most recent financial results released today.

The loss--in part due to higher costs in production, marketing, and R&D costs--comes alongside record sales numbers, with revenues of some $1.503 billion, which it claims as the largest one-quarter take of any third party publisher in history.

The achievement is attributed to strong sales of Need for Speed Pro Street, FIFA 08, The Simpons Game, Madden NFL 08, and others.

Rock Band sales were also listed, with the $160+ Harmonix-developed rhythm-game bundle selling 1.5 million units between its November 20 release and the end of December.

The game drove record performance of EA Partners, the publisher's division that handles games by independent developers. EA Partners also released Crytek's Crysis (PC), Flagship Studios' Hellgate: London (PC), and Valve's The Orange Box (PC, PS3, X360).

EA will release further information in a conference call to be held at 2:00pm PST.

Crytek will be demonstrating a cross-platform version of CryENGINE 2, the technology that powered Crysis (PC), at this year's Game Developers Conference.

The presentation, which will only be open to what Crytek refers to as a "select audience," will showcase the engine running on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Such a move may suggest that the console editions of Crysis, which were discussed in hypothetical terms late last year, are proceeding.

"You cannot get Crysis as it is on PC on any console," Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said at the time. "What you would have to do is compromise the design and the level design--in order of the PS3 and Xbox 360 regards you have to fulfill the memory constraints."

Other GDC demonstrations from Crytek include a look at the architectural and serious game applications of CryENGINE 2, a showing of CryENGINE 2 performing in "extremely high quality" on a machine that was built for around $600, and a session hosted by key Crytek employees entitled "Crysis in the Making."

With titles like BioWare's Mass Effect (X360), Nintendo's Mario Galaxy (Wii), Crytek's Crysis (PC), and others retailing later this month, lesser-known games have a good chance of being buried beneath the onslaught of big budget releases. Shacknews has decided to step in and rescue these games from relative obscurity with a guide to this season's great under-the-radar titles.

We're not making concessions, either--all these games are worthy of your time based on their own merits. These titles span all platforms and were chosen by members of the Shack staff, with at least one staff member having hands-on time with each title. The bulk of these games have already retailed, so you can enjoy them as soon as you want. Read on to check out our picks.

Honolulu-based Avatar Reality, whose management and advisory boards feature something of an all-star cast of industry veterans, released early screenshots and concept artwork from its sci-fi MMO Blue Mars. The company also joined BioWare in licensing StreamBase Systems' Complex Event Processing technology for its game's online infrastructure. Blue Mars was already announced as using Crytek's CryENGINE 2 as its rendering solution.

Unsurprisingly set on a terraformed Mars, Blue Mars seems highly focused on the community and customization aspects of MMOs, with avatar creation mentioned prominently in all the game's press releases. It will be demonstrated at this week's E for All Expo in Los Angeles.

Heading up Avatar Reality are Kazuyuki Hashimoto, CG supervisor on Square's Final Fantasy VII (PS, PC) and more recently technology VP for new platforms at Electronic Arts, and Li-han Chen, formerly of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within production company Square Pictures and more recently project manager on Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II.

Interestingly, Avatar Reality's advisory board is made up of three figures crucial to the early success of Nintendo: Henk Rogers (listed on the company's site as "mastermind"), who notoriously secured the original rights to Tetris after befriending designer Alexey Pajitnov and went on to found The Tetris Company; Minoru Arakawa, the first president of Nintendo of America, who helped establish the initially floundering branch; and Tetris creator Pajitnov himself, who went on to co-found The Tetris Company with Rogers.

Blue Moon is planned to enter a beta phase in late 2008.

Console gamers and the world at large might get a taste of Crytek's beautiful shooter Crysis after all, as a version of the game could be coming to consoles--in a downscaled form, of course. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told Game Informer the development of a console version of Crysis would depend entirely on the game's success as a PC title, which will render 90% of the computers in existence obsolete when it retails November 16.

"What happens next we haven't decided yet, because first we want to see how the game is received, publicly and critically, ratings wise, et cetera. We believe it will be received at least as strong as Far Cry. I hope personally a 5% average increase," Yerli said. "That would give us an argument to, 'OK, let's see how we can bring Crysis to consoles.' The engine right now is running on consoles so there's no reason why we couldn't."

Crytek has not begun any development of a console version on any platform, but Yerli said these "derivative" renditions would certainly not have the graphical fidelity of the PC version. "You cannot get Crysis as it is on PC on any console," he said. "What you would have to do is compromise the design and the level design--in order of the PS3 and Xbox 360 regards you have to fulfill the memory constraints."

For more on Crysis, check out Shacknews editor-in-chief Chris Remo's recent single-player and multiplayer hands-on previews.

In a move that will no doubt bring light to understandably joyless PC BattleTech fans, Microsoft, owner of the MechWarrior license, has granted the MechWarrior: Living Legends mod team the legal clearance to use assets and properties drawn from the BattleTech universe (thanks Landrosradick).

In other words, Microsoft has okayed a fan-created MechWarrior game. Seeing as Cease & Desist orders from property holders are a very common and real threat for mod teams, the Living Legends team has, essentially, dodged a major bullet.

All the more exciting, and at the same time disheartening, is the fact that Living Legends is a mod currently in development for Crytek's upcoming PC shooter Crysis. On the upside, it will most likely look really, really pretty. On the downside, that means that the team has yet to get their hands on the actual code, and with such mods being voluntary free-time projects, it could be a few years out.

Still, lots of excitement to be had, especially with the recent closure of MechWarrior 4 developer FASA Studios, the only internal Microsoft studio to utilize the property. Now to wait.

"Robot boners across America," exclaimed the currently medicated Shacknews founder Steve Gibson as he shook his three different bottles of pain medication. "No wait, the world! Robot boners across the world!"

"Squishy foot hurts," he added.

In the pursuit of higher education, Florida's Ringling College of Art and Design has licensed Crytek's CryENGINE 2 middleware. The initial participant in Crytek's educational licensing program, Ringling is the first academic institution to implement CryENGINE 2 into its curriculum.

"We are thrilled Crytek has chosen Ringling College as its inaugural partner for educational licensing," said Ringling president Dr. Larry Thompson. "We view this CryENGINE 2 agreement as a validation of the exceptional and innovative academic program we have created here and feel privileged to have Crytek as one of our newest business partners."

"The ranks of the Ringling alumni reads like a who's who of the computer graphics world, as do the companies they work for," noted Crytek director Faruk Yerli. "Our own director of animation is an alumnus, which shows you how highly we regard their graduates."

"Now that Ringling will be training their students using our engine ... Read more

Seoul-based Reloaded Studios will use German developer Crytek's CryENGINE 2 in an upcoming action-strategy MMO, the two companies announced today. The announcement makes Reloaded's project the fourth publicly announced MMO to license the CryENGINE 2, used by Crytek in its forthcoming PC shooter Crysis.

"When we saw the stunning concept visuals and exciting game design ideas they shared with us we immediately knew that what they have planned will be a true next-generation MMORPG, and become the kind of game which will set the visual and game play standards against which future MMO‘s will be judged," said Crytek director Faruk Yerli in the announcement, speaking on the collaboration with Reloaded Studios.

The project is the first title for Reloaded, as the studio formed in August, with its website going live today along with the announcement. The studio was founded with industry vets from Korean MMO-publisher Webzen along with the creators of MMORPG MU Online.

Last month, XML games announced its agreement with... Read more

The studio behind Far Cry, Crysis and the CryENGINE 2 middleware will move operations out of Germany should the country move forward with its ban on the production and distribution of violent video games, Crytek founder Avni Yerli claimed in an interview with German publication Welt ONLINE.

"Budapest is a lovely city," noted Yerli in the heise online translation. "We already have a branch office there." In addition to opening the Budapest, Hungary branch, the company upgraded its Kiev, Ukraine office to a full-blown development studio earlier this year.

Yerli also revealed that several other countries have expressed interest in hosting the studio and its revenue stream, specifically name-dropping England, Scotland, Austria, and Singapore.

XMLGames, the company founded by former NCSoft executive and Lineage designer Jake Song, has licensed Crytek's CryEngine 2 for use in its new MMORPG. Song sung the engine's praises in a release today, highlighting the reasons behind the choice.

"We previously had a lot of success using their ground breaking CryENGINE 1 technology while at NCSoft for AION," explained Song. "After seeing what it could do in the early previews of Crysis, we just knew we wanted to continue to work with their great new tools and engine.

"Not only are the graphics unquestionably the best available," he continued, "but the unprecedented ability it offers to physically interact with the environment will allow us to create entirely new modes of gameplay which up to now we could only dream of implementing."

An MMORPG with advanced physics? Griefers take note.

During an earnings call, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello expressed optimism in his company's future, despite a comparative decrease in revenue over its first quarter and a tough slate of upcoming competition.

EA's first-quarter revenue and profits were down 4% and 7% year-over-year, respectively standing at $395 and $229 million. The publisher chalked up the relative decline to its new policy of hosting games with online-enabled features for free, which deffered some $36 million in revenue.

Looking forward, Riccitiello etched a silver lining around strong future titles from publishers like Microsoft's Halo 3 (X360) and Take-Two's Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360), saying: "I think it's a double positive, for us and for the industry. Great software sells hardware.

"We were a little careful of the dates we selected to put our... Read more

San Diego-based independent developer Paleo Entertainment announced today that it has licensed Crytek's CryENGINE 2 technology to power its upcoming PC first person shooter Merchants of Brooklyn. Today's announcement makes Paleo only the second third-party developer to publicly reveal its usage of the advanced engine, which is being used by several Crytek projects including the anticipated upcoming PC shooter Crysis.

Set in the year 3100, Merchants of Brooklyn follows the path of Brooklyn-born Dr. Matteo Savio, apparently spanning multiple planets in its depiction of far future mob life. Few gameplay details are currently available, though Paleo has released some concept artwork.

"Before licensing the CryENGINE 2 for our new project, we looked carefully at all our options, and concluded no other engine could produce the kind of AAA quality game we were aiming to develop, nor were any other... Read more

A week after announcing the opening of a studio in Kiev, Ukraine studio, Crysis developer Crytek has announced that the company has also expanded to Budapest, Hungary. The Budapest office will use CryENGINE 2 technology for a non-first person shooter product.

"After considering a number of different options over the last two years, we chose to open our next studio in Budapest because it is both a wonderful city in which to work and live, and because we were able to draw on a significant pool ... Read more

Far Cry and Crysis developer Crytek today announced that a Kiev, Ukraine-based satellite office is now a full blown development studio, and the subsidiary has started work game using the company's CryEngine 2.

Crytek managing director Faruk Yerli noted, "Our CryENGINE 2 middleware has reached the point of maturity where it can be used to support both different types and styles of games, and run on multiple platforms, we thought it was the optimum time to begin work on a new project based on our own new and original intellectual ... Read more

It's time to get excited again! Uwe Boll is about to apply his considerable cinematic genius to the world of Crytek's Far Cry. Starting next month the Far Cry movie helmed by Boll will begin shooting, with a schedule to do the whole thing in nine weeks. Boll is not one to ignore the minor details like the tropical setting for which Far Cry is known, so he has chosen to film the movie in Canada. He has actually done five other video game-based movies there, so we can count on some consistent quality.

The screenplay is by Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer (Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead II). Gamerflicks notes: ... Read more