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.

"Crytek's Korean office will take a key role in increasing the quality of service to CryENGINE clients. By establishing the Korean office, Crytek has shown its commitment and strong interest in Korean game companies as well as the Korean gaming industry," Park added.

Asian markets including Korea, China and Taiwan are known for abundant online games--many of them free-to-play--as a counter to abundant piracy. But Crytek's move into Asia symbolizes the moneymaking potential in the region.

PC Gaming Alliance head Randy Stude recently commented that Asian markets, despite their high piracy rates, "are also the top markets for revenue."

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."

Crytek, the studio that created the hardware intensive Far Cry and Crysis games exclusively for PC, has repeatedly stated that the upcoming Crysis Warhead will be its last PC-only game due to the abundant piracy of PC games.

But just because Crytek is no longer developing PC exclusives, that doesn't mean the company will abandon the platform. "We want to continue to provide our... 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.

It is unknown what effect the acquisition will have on the development of WorldShift, which was announced a PC exclusive. Due to piracy concerns, Crytek has stated that the company will no longer develop PC-only titles following Crysis: Warhead this fall.

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.

Titled PSP Programmer, requirements include at least one year of experience on a PlayStation 2, PSP, or Nintendo DS game along with a willingness to relocate.

At present, Crytek Budapest is known to be working Crysis Warhead, which is due out this fall, along with a non-FPS title. The company also has at least one console title in the works at an unknown location, though a job listing for a PS3 programmer indicates that console development is taking place within Crytek's Frankfurt branch.

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.

The game's status as a PC exclusive comes as a bit of a shock, considering that Crytek recently commented it would be moving away from PC-only development due to piracy. "I believe we won't have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future," Crytek president Cevat Yerli said then. "Similar games [to Crysis] on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more."

Expanding on the story of the original, Warhead follows Sergeant "Psycho" Sykes as he tackles the other side of the island during the time of the first game. Said to pack more weapons, new vehicles and new multiplayer content, the title carries the tagline of "Maximum freedom, maximum explosions and maximum Psycho!"

On its official forums, Crytek revealed that Warhead was the "main reason" behind the cancellation of future Crysis patches. The entire statement follows... 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.

The official Crysis website has now been updated with a teaser image for Crysis Warhead (pictured above), presumed to be the next entry in the sci-fi shooting series. No other details, such as platforms or a release date, have been unveiled.

The original Crysis was said to be the first in a trilogy, with Crytek having since trademarked multiple related names, including Crysis Wars, Crysis Annihilation, World in Crysis and Crysis Warhead.

The developer recently commented that it would be moving away from PC-exclusive development due to piracy concerns. "Similar games [to Crysis] on consoles sell factors of 4-5 more," Crytek president Cevat Yerli explained. "I believe we won't have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future."

At present, Crytek is known to have at least one console title and a non-FPS game in the works, along with its nearly-completed efforts to bring the Crysis-powering CryENGINE 2 technology to consoles. Thanks TheIneffableBob for the heads up.

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.

Since its announcement, Crysis has been heralded as the new benchmark for real-time video game graphics. Of course, that visual splendor comes with system requirements, which developer Crytek recently released.

Having played Crysis both in single-player mode and in multiplayer, and with the game's demo scheduled to arrive tomorrow, I delved deep into the technical side of Crysis with Crytek boss Cevat Yerli. We discussed system requirements, scalability, mod support, multiplayer, and much more. How will your system stack up? Read on.

Shack: How scalable will the game be; that is, how much of the "full experience" will users be getting on a machine that is more towards the minimum requirements?

Cevat Yerli: The overall answer on this is difficult, but let's think it scales you one generation back, providing you lower visual fidelity and ambiance, with the core gameplay being the same effectively. However you will perceive the core being less impressive if you experienced the high or very high setups, but not vice versa--e.g., if you didn't see Crysis on high or very high before, you will have a great experience with your machine.

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.