State Of Play: Crytek

As for the latest round of tech that we do know about, Yerli may not be particularly taken with the PlayStation Vita (Jones is more diplomatic, and says Crytek will work with the machine when the timing is right and the interest from licensees is significant) but he's excited about the Nintedo Wii U.

"The specs are very good," Yerli enthuses.

"It's a challenge for designers, but once thought through it can add value, and that's what ultimately important. Our guys in Nottingham they are very happy with their tests on the dev kits and they're excited about it."

There's no arguing that the Wii is a more casual machine, as is Kinect which Crytek is also working with. Yerli also believes that the industry must also be more accessible to the more casual players.

Our guys in Nottingham they are very happy with their tests on the Wii U dev kits and they're excited about it.

Avni Yerli

"If you're open minded and you see how gaming has emerged, and gaming has diversified also, not just from the media, but from all different target groups," he points out.

"If you look on social networks 50 per cent or more are females. If the next generation of consoles do support similar experiences, similar ways of engaging with these gamers then they will do a good job I think."

He believes there will also be core gamers with a hunger for fancy graphics and fast paced games, but that developers need to make "easy introductions to the games, fast introductions to the games, shorter experience levels," in the same way that Facebook or Sims Social does online.

Jones, meanwhile, isn't even really sure what casual means anymore.

"I think casual is a weird thing, people are putting too many definitions on what casual means," he sighs.

"What does AAA game mean? You could say it means hardcore, console games like shooters, but why should that be the definition of AAA? AAA should be the number of people paying and playing the game, that's what determines a AAA game. So Minecraft is a AAA game because there's so many people paying and playing."

He used the example of watching Dr Who with his children. It might be a casual experience, but he still wants to see good special effects. He argues that people want good visual in all forms of media, and the same is true for gamers who prefer so called casual games.

"And I think those names will all change soon enough, we won't be talking about indies or casual, we'll come up with new terminology that fits those markets. I think all games will be social, that's the way it's going, that's mainly what I think will change."

It's no secret that Crytek has a mobile development team in Budapest, but Jones was careful in what he revealed. He was keen to point out that the engine that can make such pretty shooters in also not too bad at smaller projects.

"Maybe we've spoilt things slightly by showing such high end graphics all the time," he laughs.

"CryEngine's rendering is part of it, but actually the tools are how we get things looking so good because they're so quick to work with. And that applies to little casual games as much as it does to high end games."

"People will see some interesting stuff coming out over the next year from us and from other people using the engine, which will show that you can have high end quality but also in smaller games and on different platforms, and we hope that that's going to have a big appeal for people."

He even revealed that there was a talk planned for GDCE, cancelled due to the impending birth of a Crytek baby, where CryEngine would be used, in a single one hour session, to build a complete Angry Birds style game from scratch.

One area that Jones is surprisingly wary about is cloud gaming. Despite the fact the technology is currently being used to allow Walmart customers to play a Crysis 2 demo, he's uncertain that the current set ups are going to really change the industry. His main concern? Server costs.

"You talk to anyone whose been in the online gaming business for the last five years and they'll tell you that server costs have not gone down," he argues.

"Because if you just take Crysis or Crysis 2, run it on the cloud, every extra gamer you add in needs a lot more processing power and that costs a lot of money. I think what's going to happen now is that we're going to start seeing people designing games for the cloud, designing technology for the cloud and making the best use of it."

He does acknowledge that OnLive and Gaikai are offering good services, but he thinks they need bespoke software to see any big changes.

"It's maybe that the concept has come before we were ready for it as an industry, so we're just trying to throw things at it right now and I'm not sure if that's going to make people money. And whether or not the consumer needs it."

It's maybe that the concept of cloud gaming has come before we were ready for it as an industry.

Carl Jones

So cloud gaming, is one of the few places you probably won't see Crytek investing in the future. And let's face it, they really have enough to do right now anyway.

Mobile, free-to-play, hardcore shooters. Like many of the big publishers Crytek is keen to diversify as the gaming market grows, and with such a popular and powerful engine, the CryEngine 3, seems ahead of the game when it comes to managing the latest hardware. Yerli is happy that Crytek is getting the balance right.

"We don't rush things out, when times are right, when we're happy the with the quality... In the end we have to offer a great user experience regardless of what we do. The user must have fun, must enjoy our products and our games, our technology. So it's a combination of both, and if you realise something doesn't work you have to pull the plug."