Crytek GmbH is a German
video game developer
A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...
and
software developer
Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development invo ...
based in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
. Founded by the Yerli brothers in
Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
in 1999 and moved to Frankfurt in 2006, Crytek also operates further studios in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Ky ...
, Ukraine and
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, Turkey. Its former studios included
Crytek Black Sea
Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Black Sea Studios and Crytek Black Sea) is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it ...
in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, Bulgaria,
Crytek UK
Free Radical Design Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Nottingham. Founded by David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton and Graeme Norgate in Stoke-on-Trent in April 1999, they are best known for their ''TimeSplitters'' series of game ...
in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, and
Crytek USA
Crytek USA Corp. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, and a subsidiary of Crytek. The studio was led by David Adams, who was formerly the CEO of Vigil Games; a studio that had been acquired by THQ, but was shut down as ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
. Crytek is best known for developing the first instalment of the ''
Far Cry'' series (subsequent sequels and spin-offs being developed by
Ubisoft Montreal) and the ''
Crysis'' series, and the
open world nature of their games which showcase the company's
CryEngine
CryEngine (stylized as CRYENGINE) is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in ''Far Cry'', and continues to be updated to support new consoles and ...
.
History
1999–2004: CryEngine and ''Far Cry''
Crytek was founded by the
Turkish-German brothers
Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli in September 1999 in
Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
, Germany.
One of their first projects was a tech demo of a game called ''X-Isle: Dinosaur Island'', which showcased their game engine technology that allowed for larger viewing distances than other game engines could do at that time. They met with
Nvidia
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
during the 1999
Electronic Entertainment Expo
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...
(E3) where their
tech demo caught the attention of Nvidia and various media groups. Crytek later signed on with Nvidia to distribute ''X-Isle'' as benchmarking software for Nvidia cards.
Crytek's first major game project was ''Engalus'', a
first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
with a
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and ...
theme and
role-playing
Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...
elements, which was first privately shown at E3 2000. The project first attracted publicity for the company at the 2000
ECTS with their tech demo at the Nvidia booth, but was subsequently cancelled.
Crytek was approached by
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
to develop ''X-Isle'' into a full
AAA game. This evolved into ''
Far Cry'', which was released in March 2004. Alongside this, Crytek announced their licensable game engine,
CryEngine
CryEngine (stylized as CRYENGINE) is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in ''Far Cry'', and continues to be updated to support new consoles and ...
, that was used for ''X-Isle'' and ''Far Cry''.
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 licences purchased, but no charges were pressed.
That same month, Crytek and
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
(EA) announced a strategic partnership to develop a new gaming franchise based on the CryEngine, which would eventually be the ''
Crysis'' series. Crytek opted in this direction to showcase that the CryEngine was not limited to just what ''Far Cry'' had shown.
Due to this partnership, Ubisoft acquired the full rights to the ''Far Cry'' franchise by 2006 as well as a perpetual licence to the first CryEngine, which they have since adapted into their own Dunia Engine. In December 2004, Crytek and ATI created a special cinematic
machinima
Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''m ...
to demonstrate the future of PC gaming.
2004–2014: Company expansion, CryEngine 2 and 3, and later games
In January 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".
The game later won several Best PC Game awards from
E3 and
Games Convention
The Games Convention (GC), sometimes called the Leipzig Games Convention, was an annual video game event held in Leipzig, Germany, first held in 2002. Besides video games, the event also covers Infotainment, Hardware, and Edutainment. Its c ...
. In April 2006, Crytek moved to new offices in Frankfurt. The first public demonstration of Crytek's CryEngine 2 was in January 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 11 May 2006, Crytek announced that their satellite studio in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Ky ...
, Ukraine, had been upgraded to a full development studio, giving the company its second development studio. About a week after the upgrade of the Kyiv studio, Crytek announced a new studio in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
, Hungary.
''Crysis'' was released in November 2007. In September 2008, an expansion to ''Crysis'' entitled ''
Crysis Warhead'' was released as a PC-exclusive game. In October 2011, ''
Crysis'' was released on some consoles, allowing play of the original game via
Xbox Live
The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. A ...
and the
PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...
.
On 14 July 2008, Crytek bought Black Sea Studios and renamed it to
Crytek Black Sea
Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Black Sea Studios and Crytek Black Sea) is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it ...
. On 17 November 2008, Crytek opened an office in South Korea named Crytek, Ltd. On 3 February 2009, Crytek purchased
Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Nottingham. Founded by David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton and Graeme Norgate in Stoke-on-Trent in April 1999, they are best known for their '' TimeSplitters'' series of gam ...
, a British video game company known for the
''TimeSplitters'' series, and renamed the company to
Crytek UK
Free Radical Design Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Nottingham. Founded by David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton and Graeme Norgate in Stoke-on-Trent in April 1999, they are best known for their ''TimeSplitters'' series of game ...
.
In March 2009, Crytek announced on the company's website that it would introduce CryEngine 3 at the 2009
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...
. This new engine was developed for use on
PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
,
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
and PCs. In October 2009, CryEngine 3 became available in trade flow for game developers. In March 2010, CryEngine 3 was made compatible with
stereoscopic 3D
Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
technology. Crytek released ''
Crysis 2'', a direct sequel to the original game, in March 2011.
At
E3 2011
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 (E3 2011) was the 17th E3 held. The event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, California. It began on June 7, 2011, and ended on June 9, 2011, with 46,800 total attendees. E3 ...
, Crytek exhibited several new projects, including the action game ''
Ryse: Son of Rome''. In September 2011,
THQ and Crytek announced a partnership to develop ''
Homefront 2''. After THQ filed for bankruptcy, Crytek acquired the ''Homefront'' franchise from THQ entirely in January 2013.
In February 2012, Crytek announced a new cloud based social gaming network called Gface. The service is designed to help users meet people and play multiplayer video games with friends.
Crytek began researching a cloud gaming system in 2005 for ''Crysis'', but paused development in 2007.
In April 2012, Crytek released the CryEngine 3.4 SDK which brought full DirectX 11 support to the CryEngine SDK. Crytek released ''Crysis 3'' in February 2013
and ''Ryse: Son of Rome'' in November 2013 as an
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
launch title.
The PC version of ''Ryse'' was released in October 2014.
On 17 January 2013, Crytek officially opened an office in Istanbul, Turkey. On 28 January 2013, Crytek opened a new studio,
Crytek USA
Crytek USA Corp. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, and a subsidiary of Crytek. The studio was led by David Adams, who was formerly the CEO of Vigil Games; a studio that had been acquired by THQ, but was shut down as ...
, in Austin, Texas, consisting primarily of former
Vigil Games employees.
Since 2014: Restructuring, new leadership, CryEngine V, and latest games
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. In July 2014, Crytek announced a strategic 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.
On 20 December 2016, Crytek announced that their studios in Hungary, Bulgaria, South Korea and China would be shut down.
On 7 March 2017, Crytek sold Crytek Black Sea to
Sega
is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
and
The Creative Assembly. On 28 February 2018, Crytek announced that Cevat Yerli was stepping down as
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...
(CEO) of Crytek, with his brothers, Avni and Faruk Yerli, taking over the company's leadership as joint CEOs. Cevat continues to support the company as an advisor and major shareholder. Crytek announced the next iteration of the engine branded CRYENGINE V on March 22, 2016.
Crytek released ''
Hunt: Showdown'' (utilising the fifth generation of the
CryEngine
CryEngine (stylized as CRYENGINE) is a game engine designed by the German game developer Crytek. It has been used in all of their titles with the initial version being used in ''Far Cry'', and continues to be updated to support new consoles and ...
) in 2019–20. The company has also worked on three
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...
projects, namely ''
The Climb'' for the
Oculus Rift, ''
The Climb 2'' for the
Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest 2, and ''
Robinson: The Journey'' for the
PlayStation VR,
Oculus Rift and
SteamVR. ''
Arena of Fate'' was cancelled after Crytek's restructuring which saw the game's developer Crytek Black Sea sold.
In July 2021, German tabloid BILD reported that the Chinese Internet company
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
was attempting to buy Crytek for over €300 million via a European subsidiary.
In 2021, the Creative Services team responsible for creating trailers, won a Gold MUSE Award for The Dark Sight Trailer that promoted
Hunt: Showdown.
On January 26, 2022, Crytek announced the 4th instalment of the Crysis franchise.
Subsidiaries
* Crytek Kiev in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Ky ...
, Ukraine — founded in 2006.
* Crytek Istanbul in
Istanbul
)
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code = 34000 to 34990
, area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side)
, registration_plate = 34
, blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD
, blank_i ...
, Turkey — founded in 2012.
Former
*
Crytek Black Sea
Creative Assembly Sofia (formerly Black Sea Studios and Crytek Black Sea) is a Bulgarian video game developer based in Sofia. It was founded in May 2001 by Vesselin Handjiev. In July 2008, the company was acquired by Crytek, which then sold it ...
in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
, Bulgaria — founded in 2001 as Black Sea Studios; acquired and renamed in 2008; sold to
Sega
is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
in 2017.
* Crytek Budapest in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
, Hungary — founded in 2007, closed in 2016.
* Crytek Seoul in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...
, South Korea — founded in 2008, closed in 2016.
* Crytek Shanghai in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
, China — founded in 2012, closed in 2016.
*
Crytek UK
Free Radical Design Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Nottingham. Founded by David Doak, Steve Ellis, Karl Hilton and Graeme Norgate in Stoke-on-Trent in April 1999, they are best known for their ''TimeSplitters'' series of game ...
in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
, England — founded in 1999 as Free Radical Design; acquired and renamed in 2009; sold to
Deep Silver
Deep Silver is an Austrian video game publisher and a Division (business), division of Plaion. Eugenio Vitale serves as the director of games development for Deep Silver.
History
Deep Silver was announced in November 2002, with their first r ...
in 2014.
*
Crytek USA
Crytek USA Corp. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas, and a subsidiary of Crytek. The studio was led by David Adams, who was formerly the CEO of Vigil Games; a studio that had been acquired by THQ, but was shut down as ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, U.S. — founded in 2013, closed in 2014.
Games developed
Cancelled games
* ''Engalus''
* ''
Arena of Fate''
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
German companies established in 1999
Companies based in Frankfurt
Video game companies established in 1999
Video game companies of Germany
Video game development companies