According to Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, the company began research the potential of a service that allowed games played on high-end servers to be controlled remotely via an internet connection back in 2005, only to stop in 2007, having determined that such a service wasn't feasible yet.

"We saw that by 2013 - 2015 with the development of bandwidths and household connections worldwide that it might become more viable then...It doesn't take a lot to make a video-based renderer, but what you need is the right infrastructure that is beyond the technology we have, it's more like cable net providers and communication networks. They have to provide fast bandwidths and connectivity in order to allow such technology to excel. So as it was dependent on somebody else, we decided to wait."

This was actually my primary concern when I first heard about the Onlive service. Having watched my supposedly stable internet connection have to reset itself at least three times while streaming a Netflix movie to my Xbox 360, my faith in streaming even something as simple as keyboard and mouse commands is a bit shaken, even with Steve Perlman of Onlive's assurances.

Despite his own company's conclusions, Yerli wants to see Onlive succeed.

"I want to see it myself. I don't want to say it's either 'top or flop'. I hope it works for them because it could improve gamers lives. The technology of video-based rendering is not actually a very new concept but they do some things that others didn't do before so it will be interesting to see."

Crytek: Streaming games service viable in 2013 [GamesIndustry.biz]

Cevat goes on to say that the performance tweaks included in Warhead can eventually be applied to Crysis via patches, but don't go digging out that sad little game disc just yet. The profound changes won't be easy to implement, and Crytek is dedicating their resources to completing the follow-up before any tweaks to the original are addressed.

Crysis Warhead läuft auf einem 400-Euro-PC - In der High-Konfiguration! [PCGames.DE Via Voodoo Extreme]

By John Gaudiosi

MONTE CARLO—Cevat Yerli, co-founder, president and CEO of German game developer Crytek, recently was a featured speaker (for the second year running) at Imagina 2008, the annual 3D technology conference in Monaco. Following his discussion on the lessons learned from developing Far Cry and Crysis on CryENGINE and CryENGINE 2, he spoke about the changing face of game development.

Today's landscape has fewer independent game studios, especially on the heels of Electronic Arts acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic. Along with Epic Games and id Software, CryTek remains one of the top independent game makers in the world today.

"The challenge is in the balance of creativity versus funding," said Yerli. "The increasing budgets, more demanding platforms and customer behavior makes it difficult to sustain as an independent company. However, at the same time, new opportunities arise such as in casual online games, but also on games that are on simpler platforms such as Nintendo Wii, Xbox Live or Playstation Networks in the form of smaller game experiences, including but not limited to arcade experiences. I believe (digital distribution) is an opportunity to sustain independence and successful titles through these channels may even be more commercially lucrative than titles released through traditional retail business."

Other opportunities for development include mobile platforms and the professional modding communities. Yerli said the mod community for Crysis (www.crymod.com) is quite active. He added that "if a team would excel with a certain quality development, we would consider it as a professional product."

The advantages of being independent in today's game world is having full creative ownership of one's intellectual properties and the ability to be flexible with which direction to explore next, according to Yerli.

When asked if Crytek would be open to being acquired by a big publisher one day, he responded, "If it were a cultural fit, yes, but we would have strong requirements in addition."

But at this stage, having founded the studio in 1997, Yerli said he doesn't really think about leaving his independent state, although the studio has been approached numerous times since releasing the hits Far Cry and Crysis.

In addition to creating original IP, Crytek is building a business around its technology, but at a slower pace, at least for now, than companies like Epic Games and id Software.

"CryEngine 2 is actively being licensed, but at a lower frequency, intentionally, to fulfill our obligations, to learn from this and to sustain a qualitative landscape," said Yerli. "With GDC we will start looking into a multi-platform offering of CryEngine 2, which was the biggest demand so far and the single biggest difference between us and the competition. With CryEngine 2 now running on multiplatform, we offer the most complete 3D engine qualitatively and productively."

After spending three years developing Far Cry and learning a lot from the process, Yerli is looking forward to the new game from Ubisoft, which is being developed in Montreal.

"I honestly love the game Far Cry 2 and its development, even though the only relevance from Far Cry to Far Cry 2 is its name," said Yerli, referring to the new game's realistic setting in Africa and the absence of any sci-fi elements. "Everything else seems to be a new game, which I am looking forward to play."

Far Cry will also be heading to movie theaters—likely in 2009. Controversial film director Uwe Boll has wrapped the film version of Crytek's original game. Yerli said that licensing the film rights to fellow German Boll was the right business decision at the right time and they had good talks with the director.

"Unfortunately, we have not been involved in the film since very early when it was a script," said Yerli. "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. It will be so exciting to watch the Far Cry movie."

When asked about Boll's other videogame adaptations, Yerli said he has mixed opinions.

"Most importantly, I would say he is financially successful," said Yerli. "Critically, sure, they're not the best movies, but he knows that, too."

Since story was such a strong part of the development of Crysis—something Yerli admitted was not the case for Far Cry, which he said had a B-movie story line, the translation of Crysis to the big screen should be easier.

"A Crysis movie is definitely planned," said Yerli. "We are in active talks already. I think we will close this topic before the end of this year."

As a developer, Yerli said the goal is to mature into a multi-team studio with innovation and quality at its core. Currently, the team is looking into new challenges and also is evaluating Crysis 2, but nothing can be said and announced officially.

Given the fact that Far Cry took three years to make and Crysis four years, Yerli joked that the next game from the studio will be released in five years.

"No seriously, the biggest lessen learned from our previous games is to focus on efficiency in your organization," said Yerli. "The deployment of this efficiency is critical. I believe we will release our next game quicker than Crysis, so I estimate a two to three year cycle."

Planning on getting a second or third mortgage to beef up your Windows box up to Crysis playable levels? You may want to read on. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli told industry pub Next-Gen that gamers with older gaming PCs can still get their Crysis on, despite having a three year old set up.

So how does the current prettiest first person shooter plan to scale down to my current ghetto DirectX 9 hardware specs?

Fortunately this is much easier now that we can rely on the existence of hardware shaders. We believe clearly that Crysis will be enjoyed by a large audience that dates back to gamers with two- to three-year-old gaming rigs.

Yerli does warn though that you shouldn't spoil yourself on the DX10 version of the game, then try to go back to the decidely less gorgeous DX9 lest ye covet thy neighbor's graphics card. In other words, what you don't know won't hurt you.

Read on for the company's plans to move exclusively to Vista, but don't expect to find a release date. Yerli only gives us "asap". The wait doesn't bother me. I'll need to come across a few stray Benjamins before I'm signing up for Crysis. Michael McWhertor

Crytek: Crysis Will Run on 2-3 y.o. Rigs [Next-Gen]

Another rumor making the rounds this past week (via 1UP and Gamefront) was that Crytek's retina-meltingly gorgeous first-person shooter Crysis, currently in development for the PC, would make its way to the Xbox 360. Not necessarily a port, it was later rumored, but a modified Crysis would come to Microsoft's console.

No way, Jose, said Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli to fan site inCrysis:

We hope we aren't disappointing anyone, but contrary to any rumours that may be in circulation, neither Crytek nor any third parties are currently engaged in developing Crysis for console platforms. Our company's sole focus at this time is to complete Crysis for PC as well and as quickly as possible, so we can release it in a timely fashion to all who have shown such a strong interest in playing our game, while insuring we meet the high quality of game play they have come to expect.

Yerli then leaves the door open for a future Crysis game, stating that the company is "of course interested in next generation consoles for potential future developments" but that nothing has been announced. So where'd that rumor come from then, Cevat? Michael McWhertor

Cevat Yerli statement on recent Console rumors [inCrysis]