[dLMN8R]

(Credit goes to Ogs for finding this tidbit on the GT forums. Thought it was interesting enough for its own topic)

http://www.zuse.hessen.de/mm/Konrad_...erli_Final.pdf

For all the crap about the "sales crysis" the series encounter, for all the nonsense about how piracy alone sent Crytek to consoles, and for all the negative press about how the game required a "$3000 PC" to run, these are some pretty amazing numbers if you ask me.

It's also worth noting that 3+ million for Crysis puts it in competitive leage with Far Cry 2 - Ubisoft's multiplatform game that sold 2.9 million as of 1 year ago.

So we have a PC exclusive that made a profit on a $22 million budget as of 2+ years ago, and has continued to sell since then, but was apparently in "crysis" due to piracy, is right up there in sales with a multi-platform, probably bigger-budget game, that was hailed for being a tremendous success.


Really makes me think about hyperbole in games press - both positive and negative.


Other tidbits:
They've released "3 AAA games" (Far Cry, Crysis, Warhead), but claim that have 5 currently in development. We know 3, what could the others be?
---Crysis 2
---Warface
---Codename: Kingdoms (exclusive 360 game)

They're also an astoundingly large company:

[Dennis]

[Darklord]

But the pirates stole all our games and forced us into console development!

Crysis was fun but yeah, Crytek are full of shit sometimes with the piracy stuff they said.

[Solo]

Surprised Crysis outsold Far Cry.

Also, astoundingly large? The first company I worked for had 25,000 employees....

[Zzoram]

PC developers generally have a better idea of how to budget. They don't spend $100 million developing one game, which is why they can make a good profit even on 1 platform. CryTek games have the free marketing bonus of being cutting edge graphical showcase games. Everyone who builds a new PC goes back an grabs Crysis off Steam to see their new toy in action.

[Lagspike_exe]

Completely deserved.

[thehillissilent]

But the pirates stole all our games and forced us into console development!

Well, it will improve sales to include the consoles this time around.

[Sho_Nuff82]

I bought the maximum edition in October, so you can all thank me for the legs.

Here's hoping Crysis 2 is as good.

[Kaako]

Dope. Crysis is a fun game.

[Crunched]

PC developers generally have a better idea of how to budget. They don't spend $100 million developing one game, which is why they can make a good profit even on 1 platform. CryTek games have the free marketing bonus of being cutting edge graphical showcase games. Everyone who builds a new PC goes back an grabs Crysis off Steam to see their new toy in action.

Pretty much. Crysis is used as a benchmark just as much as it is a game.

[Dennis]

Releasing Warhead soon after Crysis was a brilliant idea.

Most of the assets and the engine was already there and gamers wanted more Crysis.

All profit, baby!

In fact, I wished they had made a sequel to Warhead with the CryEngine 2.

[Dennis]

But the pirates stole all our games and forced us into console development! Crysis was fun but yeah, Crytek are full of shit sometimes with the piracy stuff they said.

In their defense, things looked bad right when the game came out. They probably panicked a little and forgot the awesome slow burn of great PC games....

[dLMN8R]

But the pirates stole all our games and forced us into console development! Crysis was fun but yeah, Crytek are full of shit sometimes with the piracy stuff they said.

It was pretty annoying how Crytek seemed to fuel the bloggers fire about how they were doomed to failure due to piracy, when all the while sales figures kept saying the opposite.

I mean yeah, obviously piracy is an issue, and some of those pirated copies mean lost sales (no one knows how many), but Valve has the right idea on this.


It's a smart idea to go multiplatform for them, but only because it means extra revenue. Looking at the size of their company - that has still today only released PC exclusives - it's quite obvious that piracy hasn't been too damaging.

Releasing Warhead soon after Crysis was a brilliant idea. Most of the assets and the engine was already there and gamers wanted more Crysis. All profit, baby! In fact, I wished they had made a sequel to Warhead with the CryEngine 2.

Yeah, i had hoped that they would keep up the $20-30 expansion thing with at least one more title before Crysis 2 came out. I'm dying from starvation here!

In their defense, things looked bad right when the game came out. They probably panicked a little and forgot the awesome slow burn of great PC games....

Not really - it only took a few months for them to reach 1 million, and they probably had internal figures showing strong up-take before then.

[Kibbles]

Surprised Crysis outsold Far Cry. Also, astoundingly large? The first company I worked for had 25,000 employees....

It's a shame Far Cry had such a shitty multiplayer. The Map Editor is amazing, and Crysis 2 won't even have a map editor on consoles, which sucks big time =( I was looking forward to something that actually played well with a fantastic map editor. Far Cry 3 better have some better developers working on the multiplayer. >_>

Anyways, I'm still surprised considering Far Cry 2 was on 3 platforms, opposed to Crysis which is a PC game expected to get lower sales because people who can't run it and piracy.

[dLMN8R]

Surprised Crysis outsold Far Cry. Also, astoundingly large? The first company I worked for had 25,000 employees....

Well, it's pretty astonishing with everything else taken into consideration. I'm pretty sure this makes them significantly larger than Valve.

[szaromir]

Far Cry was an abomination of a game, it didn't deserve those sales.

[Crunched]

Far Cry was an abomination of a game, it didn't deserve those sales.

Huh? FC PC was excellent. The console versions were universally awful, I'll give you that. But it was a great game on PC.

[IoCaster]

PC developers generally have a better idea of how to budget. They don't spend $100 million developing one game, which is why they can make a good profit even on 1 platform. CryTek games have the free marketing bonus of being cutting edge graphical showcase games. Everyone who builds a new PC goes back an grabs Crysis off Steam to see their new toy in action.

Exactly, I reinstalled the game just to give my GTX 580 something to chew on.

[Dennis]

Not really - it only took a few months for them to reach 1 million, and they probably had internal figures showing strong up-take before then.

A few months is a long time in game world.

I distinctly remember that right when it came out word was it sold very poorly - this was gleefully reported by all the American games media. CryTek bitching and whining started immediately.

It later turned out sales were decent. And like I said, Crysis has been burning steadily since.

Crisis averted.

[Dave Long]

In their defense, things looked bad right when the game came out. They probably panicked a little and forgot the awesome slow burn of great PC games....

That's bull. There is no defense for them shooting their mouths off like that about PC gaming and piracy because it's a long held foolish belief that it destroys sales of PC games. Yet here we are looking at 3 million sold for Crysis.

People will continue to claim that PC gaming is dead/dying while information like this is ignored because the original comments by Yerli were far more quotable than these sales figures.

[Salacious Crumb]

Far Cry was an abomination of a game, it didn't deserve those sales.

Yep, fuck that game and the thousands of rocket shooting monsters it pits you against towards the end.

[Dennis]

That's bull. There is no defense for them shooting their mouths off like that about PC gaming and piracy because it's a long held foolish belief that it destroys sales of PC games. Yet here we are looking at 3 million sold for Crysis. People will continue to claim that PC gaming is dead/dying while information like this is ignored because the original comments by Yerli were far more quotable than these sales figures.

Its bull what they said. But it is not bull what I said.

[Visualante]

Sweet, even if Crysis tanks on consoles it will probably perform well.

PC gaming, fuck yeah. I just wish the licensing would pick up for Crytek, it's a shame to see such talent go to waste on the vaseline poop monster engine.

[szaromir]

Huh? FC PC was excellent. The console versions were universally awful, I'll give you that. But it was a great game on PC.

It wasn't. Besides graphics it was craptastic.

[Lagspike_exe]

It wasn't. Besides graphics it was craptastic.

Wrong. Level design and AI were awesome.

[Dennis]

Sweet, even if Crysis tanks on consoles it will probably perform well. PC gaming, fuck yeah. I just wish the licensing would pick up for Crytek, it's a shame to see such talent go to waste on the vaseline poop monster engine.

I hope it does well on PC. But Crysis was a hardcore PC game whereas Crysis 2 is made for consoles also....

[IoCaster]

Yep, fuck that game and the thousands of rocket shooting monsters it pits you against towards the end.

Well personally I can't argue with that. The game was rolling along great until those rocket spamming fuckers showed up to slow everything to a crawl. It was almost enough to make me punch a hole through the wall.

[Horns]

So glad to see that a stellar PC series does well. Well deserved as well.

[Visualante]

I hope it does well on PC. But Crysis was a hardcore PC game whereas Crysis 2 is made for consoles also....

I think you underplay the graphics card factor, people want a toy to stretch out their new GPU and a lot of sales will come from bundle GPUs. Even if it is a 'console' game I don't think it will do bad numbers. PC is hardly drowning in quality product right now.

[szaromir]

Wrong. Level design and AI were awesome.

AI noticing you from half a mile was far from awesome. Level design was OK.

[Prime crotch]

The game has featured on almost every steam sale I can recall, no wonder it's doing good numbers.

[BobsRevenge]

Far Cry does kind of suck. The gameplay wasn't up to par with HL2 and Doom 3 on release, and it hasn't aged well since. It was great at the time because no one else had done a game like it, but now that people have and done it much better since (especially Crytek itself with Crysis) it doesn't hold up.

Although, it did lead to the two best (imo) FPS games released this generation with Crysis and Far Cry 2.

[Dennis]

Although, it did lead to the two best (imo) FPS games released this generation with Crysis and Far Cry 2.

:lol FarCry 2....

Maybe if you are a fan of plastic graphics and respawning enemies.

[Wazzim]

1.5 for Warhead is nice.

[BobsRevenge]

:lol FarCry 2....

:|

Far Cry 2 is goddamn amazing, hater.

[dionysus]

I just hope that going multiplatform and having so many games doesn't threaten their existence by fracturing their talent into too many directions. Nothing wrong with a little ambition, but Crytek has expanded fast. Reminds me of CDProjekt.

I also wish they had released another expansion to Crysis. Warhead was great and must have been pretty cheap to do.

Edit. Far Cry 2 is amazing. If there were no checkpoints that game would have been almost perfect.

[Dilly]

Far Cry 2 had lots of potential, just like Assassins Creed had lots of potential.

[BobsRevenge]

AI noticing you from half a mile was far from awesome. Level design was OK.

tbh it isn't hard to see people from half a mile away. The worst was when a patch allowed them to see through some solid surfaces like tents and shoot through them at you.

[Mr_Brit]

I just hope that going multiplatform and having so many games doesn't threaten their existence by fracturing their talent into too many directions. Nothing wrong with a little ambition, but Crytek has expanded fast. Reminds me of CDProjekt. I also wish they had released another expansion to Crysis. Warhead was great and must have been pretty cheap to do.

No thanks. Warhead was nowhere near as good as the first game. I'd rather have them focus on making Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 instead. I'm really, really hoping that they save Crysis 3 for the next gen systems as it'd be a shame to have the third game restricted to really old hardware.

[Jason's Ultimatum]

:lol FarCry 2.... Maybe if you are a fan of plastic graphics and respawning enemies.

Haters gonna hate. The game's atmosphere was amazing.

FC3 should fix:

-Enemy AI
-Respawn checkpoints
-Better plot

[Wazzim]

No thanks. Warhead was nowhere near as good as the first game. I'd rather have them focus on making Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 instead. I'm really, really hoping that they save Crysis 3 for the next gen systems as it'd be a shame to have the third game restricted to really old hardware.

They could just make 3 for PC and leave a "Crysis 3: Ultimate" for the next gen consoles as launch game.

[Dennis]

FarCry was fantastic up till the fucking Trigens

FarCry 2 has the most hideous graphics of any modern AAA game. The fact that every single person in the game hated you and tried to kill you ruined the game. If there had been some civilian NPCs the immersion would have been much better. Also the stealth was broken and enemies hunted you down like they were they damn Predator. I had so high hopes for this game....

Oh, and respawing enemies and checkpoints.....

And then suddenly...fucking jeep out of nowhere plows your ass.....

[Y2Kev]

Pc games have such amazing longevity. Crysis in particular because it's still so good looking.

[Saty]

Crysis 2 has to sell 12 million copies across all platforms, then.

[The Antitype]

No licensing fees. PC games make almost 30% more profit per sale than console games.

Crysis is in an interesting position, cause years later, it's still considered one of - if not THE showpiece game for a PC rig. I mean, what bigger, better looking FPS games have come out since?

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks good, but nothing as good as Crysis. So the Crysis games have continued to sell as people continue to upgrade their PCs. It's one of those games you pick up with a new computer to see what it can do...and to play a great FPS.

The thing is, Crytek looks at that $22 Million number...and wonders what they COULD have made if the game was on consoles.

[kamspy]

Here's some truth GAF;

Crysis is the greatest First Person Shooter video game ever made.

Ever.

Just the ballistics if nothing else.... No game gives you the same satisfaction of smokin' fools. It's the most under rated part of the game.

[Lagspike_exe]

No licensing fees. PC games make almost 30% more profit per sale than console games. Crysis is in an interesting position, cause years later, it's still considered one of - if not THE showpiece game for a PC rig. I mean, what bigger, better looking FPS games have come out since? Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks good, but nothing as good as Crysis. So the Crysis games have continued to sell as people continue to upgrade their PCs. It's one of those games you pick up with a new computer to see what it can do...and to play a great FPS. The thing is, Crytek looks at that $22 Million number...and wonders what they COULD have made if the game was on consoles.

Care to post a price brakedown and where this "30%" is coming from?

[Dennis]

Here's some truth GAF; Crysis is the greatest First Person Shooter video game ever made. Ever. Just the ballistics if nothing else.... No game gives you the same satisfaction of smokin' fools. It's the most under rated part of the game.

Yes.

Both the gamelay and the graphics are the best of any FPS ever made.

My personal top 3

1) Crysis (PC)

2) Halo franchise (360)

3) Everything else

[BobsRevenge]

FarCry was fantastic up till the fucking Trigens FarCry 2 has the most hideous graphics of any modern AAA game. The fact that every single person in the game hated you and tried to kill you ruined the game. If there had been some civilian NPCs the immersion would have been much better. Also the stealth was broken and enemies hunted you down like they were they damn Predator. I had so high hopes for this game.... Oh, and respawing enemies and checkpoints..... And then suddenly...fucking jeep out of nowhere plows your ass.....

The stealth was broken only when you expected the AI to have horrible vision and sense of their surroundings that most games give you because it makes your life easier. Most of the time its actually more realistic than other games. If you wear the stealth suit in the dark, stealth works pretty damn well. If its raining, you get even more of a bonus. The AI also did really interesting things. If you shoot one in the leg it may crawl away until it is behind a tree facing away from you. Or maybe one of his buddies will feel brave and try to help him up. It wasn't perfect (drivers were fucking retarded), but it was surprising and more human than other games.

And I think Far Cry 2 is one of the best looking games out there on PC. I know you don't seem to enjoy the style, but if you do (and I do) the game is gorgeous.

The main issue with Far Cry 2 is that it obviously isn't finished and there are obvious shortcuts taken to release the game at the time they did.

[The Antitype]

Care to post a price brakedown and where this "30%" is coming from?

Not really. Depends on a bunch of factors, like how many platforms a game has been licensed for, whatever Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo (or Apple) are charging, what the cut of the DLC profits they get, yada yada yada. PC is an open platform. More money per sale.