[PS3]INTERVIEW: Crytek Thinks Outside of the FPS

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Crysis creators Crytek announced today a new studio in Budapest, Hungary, which will be working on a non-FPS title. Next-Gen spoke with Crytek about the flexibility of CryENGINE 2 and Eastern European development.
Frankfurt, Germany-based Crytek is mostly known for triple-A first-person shooters, but that could change to an extent in the near future. The studio created the highly-acclaimed FPS Far Cry (now an Ubisoft property) and is currently developing Crysis, one of the most-anticipated titles for PC.

But with the establishment of a new Budapest studio, Crytek is looking to expand beyond the FPS genre. “We think that there are a lot of other interesting opportunities out there,” said Crytek engine business manager Harald Seely in a phone interview. “We haven’t really scratched the surface of CryENGINE can do. We want to explore those opportunities…”

Seeley and Crytek still aren’t ready to reveal what genre the new studio will be developing within, but we do know that the CryENGINE 3D game engine is especially capable of creating beautiful, sprawling outdoor landscapes. Seeley also said that the CryENGINE has evolved to take on interior environments more handily.

Although Crytek is most closely associated with the PC platform, CryENGINE is capable of supporting multiple platforms. The company currently has job listings searching for PlayStation 3 developers, although no announcement about a PS3 game has been made.

“There is a lot of unexplored territory in what the engine can be used for,” said Seeley. “Between ourselves and our licensees, we will be making the engine more and more generic” in order to accommodate companies that use the CryENGINE, he added.

The establishment of the Budapest studio is the second major announcement coming out of Crytek in the last two weeks. Earlier this month, Crytek announced that its Kiev location had been upgraded to full development studio status and is working on a new original property.

But why found a brand new studio in Budapest? Eastern Europe has mostly been known as an area where Western companies can outsource work to curb development costs, not as a hotbed of full-blown triple-A title development.

Seeley said that nevertheless, there is an impressive talent pool in Budapest and it’s an attractive location.

He said Crytek in the past had recruited a number of people from Budapest who were very capable and experienced deveopers. Some of these employees suggested setting up a studio in Hungary’s capital, and Sealy said it “just made sense” because of the reasonable cost of living and diverse population.

“It’s one of those cities where you feel at home very quickly,” Sealy said. The attractiveness of Budapest could also be used by Crytek to convince future employees to relocate if necessary, so there’s the recruitment aspect that’s taken into consideration as well.

“Eastern Europe as a source of game development has already proven itself,” he explained. “It’s already growing very quickly, a lot of companies have put studios in the East. A lot of them aren’t really publicized. A lot of the work is in the mode of outsourcing. But I think as they become more and more experienced with the tools we have today, there’s going to be a lot of original ideas coming out of there as well.”

As for that PS3 project, Seeley’s lips are sealed, so Crytek fans can speculate away.

“How’s our PlayStation 3 project coming? I wasn’t aware we announced any PlayStation 3 project yet,” he said.
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