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Crytek only broke even on the development costs of Crysis 1 and 2

N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
To note, they're an independent developer, so their publisher gets a fair amount of the profit share here.

There's a ton more at the link.

For reference, here are the last numbers I know for Crysis:

---Remember, average selling price is important, so if most of these were for $5-$20, it's much less profitable than selling 3 million at $60---
Crysis 1 - 3 million
Crysis 2 - 3 million

Eurogamer said:
Eurogamer: Are you happy with the sales of the series?

Cevat Yerli: That's a difficult one, and I'm not talking about being greedy and we want more sales. But effectively Crysis 1 and 2 and 3 are just about breaking even. If we meet the forecasts - and I can't reveal the forecasts - then we are going to break even.

This is a very important point. The market is much more brutal for developers than people assume. It's difficult for many reasons. If you want to stay in the triple-A space where you want to tell big stories with big productions, there are a lot of market shifts right now happening to different platforms, from social platforms to mobile and other platforms. People say they do not affect the market, but they do affect the market.

The console sales are down. The PC sales are down for the retail markets. But they're getting bigger for F2P and online markets. So for a retail game like Crysis 3 it's going to be a tough one to break out and hit the big numbers.
Click to expand...
Eurogamer said:
Eurogamer: Is there something about the Crysis games themselves that have prevented them from achieving the popularity of, say, Call of Duty and Halo?

Cevat Yerli: If you track the IP popularity, we are maybe not as popular as Call of Duty or Halo yet, but we are very close to this. Crysis 3 has a chance to break out for Crytek, but it's going to be a tough one. It's a good time for gamers. Tonnes of great games are launching in the next few months. We are launching as well. It's going to be exciting for gamers and difficult for publishers and developers to stand out.

We went through Crysis 1 and 2 knowing Crysis 3 will be our long term investment and the return of the investment. Our partnership with EA is mature and collaborative. We said with Crysis 2 we are going to spend a lot of money making Crysis 2 a high quality experience on console as well. That investment is going to, hopefully, return for us now with Crysis 3. If if breaks out then we are going to have a great success. If it sells like Crysis 2 and like what a typical sequel does in a third iteration, then we are going to be all happy still.

We never make a game saying we are going to sell 15 million units. We're not dreaming about this. If it happens, because we are busting our ass off making this great game, then great. And if it hits our forecast numbers, which are much more conventional, or much more realistic, then we are going to be financially okay, and we can move on and make our next great things.

That's how we work and that's how reality is. That's all I'm trying to say. I'm not trying to paint a bad picture here. I'm just saying the realities are you have to work with a realistic situation. The game has all the ingredients. Crysis 3, I mean, look at it. From a concept perspective, from an environment perspective... the gameplay is substantially better than Crysis2, the Seven Wonders concept we put in place is spectacular, the story is more refined than ever before. I think Crysis 3 has all the ingredients to break out.

If you look at the age of the IP, we are now where Call of Duty and Halo broke out as well. Usually franchises take about seven to eight years before they can really break out. We are in the cycle right now.
Click to expand...
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...tek-on-the-ups-and-downs-of-the-crysis-series
 
L

Loxley

Member
I still remember that episode of GFW Radio where they said that Cevat was checking some of the larger torrent sites on the day of Crysis 1's launch, and on one site alone saw that Crysis had been downloaded over 14,000 times in one day alone.
 
L

la_briola

Member
Loxley said:
I still remember that episode of GFW Radio where they said that Crytek was checking some of the larger torrent sites on the day of Crysis 1's launch, and on one site alone saw that Crysis had been downloaded over 14,000 times on the first day.
Click to expand...

And? That is the norm for many games, even console games. Games like Halo, RE or CoD will be downloaded the same or more and even weeks before release.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
How did they afford to expand into Crytek UK, Crytek Ukraine, Crytek Black Sea, Crytek Budapest, and Crytek South Korea?
 
L

la_briola

Member
Darklord said:
How did they afford to expand into Crytek UK, Crytek Ukraine, Crytek Black Sea, Crytek Budapest, and Crytek South Korea?
Click to expand...

They also sell to the military and "house planing" market.

edit:
"We have some other contracts going on as well for some other non-game industries," Yerli explained. "We have a lot of contracts going on from gas and oil companies, General Electric, all the way to SOCOM. We have a lot of military companies working with our technology, in fact." According to Yerli, Crytek works on "whatever" these partners want, utilizing their tech know-how to create simulations
Click to expand...
-- http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/26/crytek-boss-explains-companys-non-game-businesses/
 
A

angular graphics

Banned
Darklord said:
How did they afford to expand into Crytek UK, Crytek Ukraine, Crytek Black Sea, Crytek Budapest, and Crytek South Korea?
Click to expand...

Am I the only thinking Cevat sometimes.. ahem.. enhances the truth?

1) What you said

plus

2) "Some people have pirated the game and retrospectively - I'm talking about a handful of people - sent us a cheque for 50 euros in an envelope and said, 'sorry for pirating your game and here's your money.'", from the same article

plus

3) http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/c..._prevents_crysis_2_3d_performance_issues.html

Q: I saw Killzone 3 in 3D during Sony's press conference. Is this a better experience than Killzone 3?

CY: I think it's a more pleasing experience. But again I have heard it. I only heard it. People say it's much more pleasing. Much more easy on the eye. It has more depth. I haven't seen Killzone to be honest. I wish I would see it, but they won't let me see it.

Q: Won't they? Why not?

CY: Go figure.

Q: That seems silly. It was at Sony's conference. Anybody could have seen it.

CY: Crysis 2 is taking it way beyond, even on console, even on PS3 and 360. And with Stereoscopic 3D we are putting on another layer on top of that. But that being said, the PC version is even more.
Click to expand...

Hm?
 
O

onQ123

Member
Now you high end PC owners see why us Console Gamers dictates what you can play on your $2000 PC.


Next Gen Power but you will not get to play next gen level games until we say so lol.



Edit: just to be clear I'm only joking while telling the truth
 
C

Canis lupus

Member
So Crysis 3 development paid for itself and can only bring money if they're breaking even with 2 games right, or am I seeing it wrong?
 
M

MedIC86

Member
Everytime they interview this guy in relation to sales he says other stuff why it underperformed or whatever..


Crytek...start making better games..
imo
 
R

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
If they're factoring in engine development costs then this isn't surprising. The Crysis games were made hand in hand with CryEngine development and licensing hasn't taken off. Them paying for themselves and the engine development is solid.
 
D

Deadbeat

Banned
RoboPlato said:
If they're factoring in engine development costs then this isn't surprising. The Crysis games were made hand in hand with CryEngine development and licensing hasn't taken off. Them paying for themselves and the engine development is solid.
Click to expand...
I guess their free SDK system to compete with UDK isnt taking off either.
 
R

Reticent Rhino

Member
Really explains why they're backing out of AAA development.

Cevat Yerli said:
If you look at the age of the IP, we are now where Call of Duty and Halo broke out as well. Usually franchises take about seven to eight years before they can really break out. We are in the cycle right now.
Click to expand...

But...didn't Halo "break out" from the very beginning? I know 2 and 3 sold even more, but I thought CE was a big hit. Seems like a dishonest analogy to me.

Any hopes that Crysis 3 will be the point where the series explodes in popularity seem wildly optimistic. Especially this late in the generation, with software sales declining. I don't know why he's even entertaining the possibility.
 
S

Saty

Member
But this comment in 2008:
CEO and President of game developer Crytek said Crysis cost 15 million Euros (22 million USD) to develop during a panel about the future of gaming graphics at the Games Convention Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. Yet despite the cost, Yerli maintained the game was profitable, adding, "if it wasn't profitable I wouldn't be able to stand here."
Click to expand...
So the game was already making money since August 2008 but somehow Crysis 1 only broke even now?
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/19/gc-2008-crysis-cost-22-million-to-make
 
D

demidar

Member
Reticent Rhino said:
Really explains why they're backing out of AAA development.



But...didn't Halo "break out" from the very beginning? I know 2 and 3 sold even more, but I thought CE was a big hit. Seems like a dishonest analogy to me.

Any hopes that Crysis 3 will be the point where the series explodes in popularity seem wildly optimistic. Especially this late in the generation, with software sales declining. I don't know why he's even entertaining the possibility.
Click to expand...

Halo certainly started the upswing of FPSes. Was definitely popular right out of the gate, and got more popular as time went on, until COD4 came along.
 
P

Perkel

Banned
Not suprising considering they have created bland franchize with characters people don't care about just like Killzone franchize.

You need to do first Story > Gameplay > Graphic not other way around. It's what Halo did.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
So Crysis 2 sold the same as Crysis 1 despite being on consoles and PC instead of just PC? Did it suffer a huge drop off in PC sales due to the graphics downgrade to make it work on consoles? I know Crysis 2 didn't become the "testing my new PC" game of it's time because it didn't push graphics further due to being gimped to work on consoles.
 
L

Liquid_Bike

Member
Is this like movies where they never turn a profit? Because the company must have some serious mismanagement issues not to have made a profit on these titles.
 
H

HigherLevel

Member
Reticent Rhino said:
Really explains why they're backing out of AAA development.



But...didn't Halo "break out" from the very beginning? I know 2 and 3 sold even more, but I thought CE was a big hit. Seems like a dishonest analogy to me.

Any hopes that Crysis 3 will be the point where the series explodes in popularity seem wildly optimistic. Especially this late in the generation, with software sales declining. I don't know why he's even entertaining the possibility.
Click to expand...

Halo was huge from the beginning. COD was big but it wasn't until 4 that it became huge. Not sure what he was talking about with Halo.
 
R

Radec

Member
Zzoram said:
So Crysis 2 sold the same as Crysis 1 despite being on consoles and PC instead of just PC? Did it suffer a huge drop off in PC sales due to the graphics downgrade to make it work on consoles? I know Crysis 2 didn't become the "testing my new PC" game of it's time because it didn't push graphics further due to being gimped to work on consoles.
Click to expand...

It didnt even pushed the consoles like what they've been telling before the game was released.
 
N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Zzoram said:
So Crysis 2 sold the same as Crysis 1 despite being on consoles and PC instead of just PC? Did it suffer a huge drop off in PC sales due to the graphics downgrade to make it work on consoles? I know Crysis 2 didn't become the "testing my new PC" game of it's time because it didn't push graphics further due to being gimped to work on consoles.
Click to expand...

Well, one of these results was years after release while the other was about five months.
 
F

Fantasmo

Member
I really enjoyed the Chzo Mythos and one guy made that. I wish at least 4 developers would make 1 adventure game every other year. A or AA is fine. No need for AAA. Telltale's got the right idea. I'd like a couple more companies doing that.

I think Crytek should stay in the game since they're really talented, but it's time to make a new IP. Other developers, especially smaller ones, need to just switch genres.
 
F

Foliorum Viridum

Banned
We went through Crysis 1 and 2 knowing Crysis 3 will be our long term investment and the return of the investment.
Click to expand...

Wonder if this is true. Crysis 2 felt desperate.

Honestly, after the downgrade of 2, and how 3 is seemingly going to be more of the same, I don't really want Crytek to have success. They should have built on Crysis, not regressed.

Put out Timesplitters 4 and I might change my mind.
 
D

demidar

Member
Zzoram said:
So Crysis 2 sold the same as Crysis 1 despite being on consoles and PC instead of just PC? Did it suffer a huge drop off in PC sales due to the graphics downgrade to make it work on consoles? I know Crysis 2 didn't become the "testing my new PC" game of it's time because it didn't push graphics further due to being gimped to work on consoles.
Click to expand...

Crysis is a boring game, in my opinion. That might be why people wouldn't be stoked for its sequel.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Is there anyway to guesstimate the development budget of these games from this info? I'm curious to see how much these cost to make.
 
R

Reiko

Banned
Radec said:
I dont remember Crysis 2 looking good on consoles.
Click to expand...

c2lights1ynic.gif


This GIF remembers.
 
A

alexandros

Banned
onQ123 said:
Now you high end PC owners see why us Console Gamers dictates what you can play on your $2000 PC.
Click to expand...

Honestly, all I'm getting from this is that Crytek moved to multiplatform development to get the big bucks and they still only managed to break even with Crysis 2.Had Crysis 1 not been out of reach for most PC gamers at the time due to hardware limitations, it would have proven much more profitable than Crysis 2. What does that tell you?

Edit: and that's assuming that Crytek are telling the truth and aren't just trying to cover up the failure of their much-publicized move to multiplatform development.
 
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