Crysis developer Crytek is planning to release a free standalone edition of its Crysis 2-powering CryTek 3 engine, Develop reports, following in the footsteps of the free edition of Unity as well as Gears of War developer Epic's Unreal Development Kit.

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Author Richard Morgan, best known for his cyberpunk sci-fi novel Altered Carbon, revealed on his blog that he's been working with Electronic Arts as a consultant on three upcoming games (via A Dribble of Ink). He explains that the relationship started with an email from John Miles at EA about a year ago. A meeting with Miles and fellow EA employees Jeff Gamon and Colin Robinson resulted in an offer to write the script for a project already underway and to consult on future games. Part of the deal included heading off to Berlin the next week and since it seems he accepted we can assume that was his next stop.

While Morgan does not disclose what projects he might be on the names and locations offer plenty of clues. Miles, who initially reached out to him, recently has been working with the EA Partners group which includes developers Crytek and Starbreeze. The quick trip to Berlin put him only a short train ride away from Crytek's headquarters in Frankfurt. Morgan's gritty style would definitely fit well with the Crysis franchise. But hold on, before we forget, Crytek also bought developer Free Radical earlier this year, including the rights to the TimeSplitters IP, and kept the studio in the UK running. That sounds like two perfect fits already. Read more »

EA Partners will publish Crysis 2, Electronic Arts and CryTek announced today. Though devoid of any details on the game and no release date estimate, today's announcement did reveal that the CryEngine 3 powered game will head to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in addition to a PC release.

"The development of Crysis 2 marks a major stepping stone for our studio," said Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, adding "This is not only the next game in the Crysis franchise, it's the first title we are developing for consoles and the first title being built on CryENGINE 3. We are excited to have the support of EA Partners again as we work together to make the launch of Crysis 2 a huge event." Read more »

Crytek, developer of the Crysis games and the CryEngine technology behind them, has filed for three new trademarks-- Gface, Carvatar, and Kingdoms--reports GameSpot.

With the filings covering "computer game software and electronic games," a recent tech demo of CryEngine 3 sporting medieval battle footage, and Crytek's status as a developer, there's speculation that at least one trademark could be a game title. Read more »

More footage from Crytek's multi-platform CryEngine 3 technology has emerged from this year's Game Developers Conference. Over twice the length of the previous trailer, the video offers an extended look at what the Crysis developers can do on consoles.

The next iteration of Crytek's CryEngine graphics solution, the console-ready CryEngine 3, is making its debut here at GDC in San Francisco, and today the first footage was released by way of IGN.

Check out the video below. We'll have more on CryEngine 3, including an interview with Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, as the show progresses.

The third iteration of Crytek's proprietary graphics engine CryEngine will debut at this month's Game Developers Conference, according to a release from the company.

"We've been preparing a long time for CryENGINE on consoles and we're confident that Crytek will again amaze developers at GDC," said Crytek director of business development Carl Jones. Read more »

Update: Crytek today confirmed last night's news, announcing it indeed purchasing the assets and business of Free Radical Design. The forty-some people still left at the company following December's layoffs and bankruptcy will be retained. The studio will now be known as Crytek UK.

Original: Though an official announcement on the fate of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical isn't due until tomorrow, staffer Rob Yescombe has already spilled the beans. Read more »

Crysis Warhead (PC) developer Crytek is now open for business in Seoul, South Korea, as the European developer is making a move into the lucrative Asian gaming market.

Industry veteran Young Mok Park will lead the office and will focus on Crytek's engine licensing business for Korean clients, reports Gamasutra.

"Establishing an office in Seoul was the logical step to expand our business in Korea as well as giving our engine licensees in this region the best possible support, through direct access to a dedicated local team," said Crytek CEO Faruk Yerli. Read more »

While some argue that piracy can increase game sales by letting players take a "try before you buy" approach, Crytek business manager Harald Seeley isn't one of them.

Based on downloads of the last Crysis patch, he argues, there were "a lot more active [Crysis] players than there were unit sales."

And since those pirates are still playing the game months after release, Seeley reasons that "then they were a sale that didn't happen but probably would have had it not been possible to obtain the game illegally." Read more »

Crysis creator Crytek has officially acquired Black Sea Studios, a Bulgarian company known for its historical PC real-time strategy effort Knights of Honor and the upcoming sci-fi RTS WorldShift.

Under the deal, Black Sea has been renamed Crytek Black Sea. The financial details of the buyout were not disclosed.

"Black Sea Studios already has a very qualified and experienced development team in place and will be continually expanded in capacity to join our tradition of producing highly innovative and creative games which Crytek is known for," explained Crytek managing director Avni Yerli. Read more »

When Far Cry and Crysis creator Crytek said it would not develop PC-only titles after Crysis Warhead (PC), it was assumed that the studio would pursue PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 efforts as its CryENGINE 2 technology is being ported to those systems.

Now, a job listing for the company's Budapest studio indicates that, in addition to consoles, the company is eying handheld development--specifically, the PSP. Read more »

Following up on yesterday's teasing, developer Crytek and publisher Electronic Arts have officially announced the second entry in the Crysis series of sci-fi shooters.

Due out this fall, Crysis Warhead will arrive exclusively on PCs and is the first title to be developed by Crytek's Budapest studio. The game is said to run on "a new, enhanced and optimized version" of CryENGINE 2, the technology that powered the original. Read more »

On Monday, developer Crytek announced it would no longer be developing Crysis (PC) patches for "a good reason" that it hoped to say more about "in the very, very near future."

Apparently, the "very, very near future" meant two days. Read more »

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." Read more »