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[dLMN8R]

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.

Yeah those NPD numbers were notorious, but people weren't yet used to realizing that NPD numbers were retail only and US-only. I imagine that people inside Crytek knew at least a little better, but maybe not.

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

Assuming that a Microsoft or Sony royalty fee is $10-12 of every $60 game sold, that's at least 16% right there.

But if you look at a digital sale on Steam, it's rumored that Valve takes around 20-30%, which would mean that for a $50 game, the publisher/developer gets $40, whereas for a retail sale, it probably wouldn't come out to much more than $10-15 after distribution costs and retail markup are taken into consideration.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

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.

So, you can't back the 30% claim with evidence?

 

[Pimpbaa]

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

Far Cry is better than Crysis. Vast open levels and so many ways to tackle the objectives.

 

[nextgeneration]

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

And it's going to keep selling because it was designed with the future in mind. Even today's beasts of pc's still can't tame Crysis. Look at this setup here and the fps you're getting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzELwp5-fpY

 

[szaromir]

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.

It's kinda hard to spot a person hiding in the bushes several hundred meters away, recognize him as an enemy and shoot accurately.

Far Cry is better than Crysis. Vast open levels and so many ways to tackle the objectives.

I didn't play Crysis apart from the demo.

 

[BobsRevenge]

It's kinda hard to spot a person hiding in the bushes several hundred meters away, recognize him as an enemy and shoot accurately.

That didn't usually happen though. Only after they already knew you were there.

 

[Vampire Hunter Vizier]

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.

I agree partially, I think the main reason is that they had to promote cryengine 3. CE2 had very few licensees, realizing this, Crytek introduced CE3 with console support. But they had to develop a game with it to promote their new engine and its capabilities on consoles. So inevitably Crysis 2 was announced for both consoles. Yeah they could have introduced a new game and leave the crysis franchise PC only, but that wouldn't be a self-confident move for a company like Crytek.

 

[szaromir]

That didn't usually happen though. Only after they already knew you were there.

It happened a couple of times to me. Ah well, doesn't matter now.

My understanding is that Crytek Korea is doing a MMOG. How can they do it with such a small team?

 

[dLMN8R]

Far Cry is better than Crysis. Vast open levels and so many ways to tackle the objectives.

HEY YOU THERE

IN THE SHIRT

 

[Zzoram]

So, you can't back the 30% claim with evidence?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=414528

A PC digital sale yields anywhere from 2 to 10 times the revenue of retail sales to the publisher or developer. Considering how much of the PC market is digital now, way more relative to consoles, it stands to reason that PC games are much more profitable given equal sales. This is especially true once you factor in console licensing (which isn't mentioned by 1C since they are PC).

 

[kamspy]

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

Agree completely. The graphics play a small role. The A.I. and the ballistics do it for me. Open world is nice too. I've pulled off stuff in Crysis that I couldn't replicate if I tried. Driving truck toward enemy checkpoint -> bail from truck -> throw grenade that lands perfectly in bed of truck as it comes crashing into checkpoint -> boom. Gaming orgasm. I had to pause the game and take it all in.


1. Crysis

2. STALKER franchise

3. Half Life 2

 

[dionysus]

It happened a couple of times to me. Ah well, doesn't matter now.

My understanding is that Crytek Korea is doing a MMOG. How can they do it with such a small team?

Most of those offices listed in the OP are not going to have their own game. They are for outsourced art and stuff like that, so Korea or any of the other offices will be getting support from other teams. Not to mention that they can contract with third party developers to provide assets to a game if they don't want to do it internally. It is pretty common practice now for companies to have development offices in places with low wages and rents that help out their main teams.

Edit. My favorite part of FC2 was assassinating that guy giving a speech from a mile away with mortars. Took him out and half his audience, though I did have to reload a few times to get the aiming right. So many varied ways to tackle objectives or just mess around. And not one of them was a gimmick like in some open world games.

 

[Dennis]

Agree completely. The graphics play a small role. The A.I. and the ballistics do it for me. Open world is nice too. I've pulled off stuff in Crysis that I couldn't replicate if I tried. Driving truck toward enemy checkpoint -> bail from truck -> throw grenade that lands perfectly in bed of truck as it comes crashing into checkpoint -> boom. Gaming orgasm. I had to pause the game and take it all in.


1. Crysis

2. STALKER franchise

3. Half Life 2

:lol oh, fuck I can't believe I forgot the STALKER series.

They are some of the best games ever. Period.

I love Half-Life but was kinda disappointed with Half-Life 2.

 

[BobsRevenge]

My favorite part of FC2 was assassinating that guy giving a speech from a mile away with mortars. Took him out and half his audience, though I did have to reload a few times to get the aiming right. So many varied ways to tackle objectives or just mess around. And not one of them was a gimmick like in some open world games.

The mortar was insane. I loved thinking about what was going through the dudes' heads inbetween the time I dropped a smoke round on them to get my aiming right and the time it took the real round to blow them all to shit. :lol

And the flare gun and flamethrowers! I loved it. The game definitely had some fun toys.

 

[user friendly]

Far Cry 2 is an amazing game. It's not perfect but good god damn am I immersed. Wish I could have played it on PC for my first time though, this tearing is the worst part of the experience for me. Stalking at night is so good and just the different ways you can go about taking out an enemy base makes it so much more replayable. Love flaming out a base and listening to their reactions. I don't mind the respawning enemies, not a big deal when you can usually just blow by them if you're not up to the fight. I wish the game felt a little weightier though but I'm so glad I didn't sleep on this one any longer than I did. Pros outweigh the cons tenfold imo.

Can't wait to properly play it again and finally experience Crysis for the first time. I'm not sure but the only thing I didn't like about Crysis was the crap ragdoll, has that changed? I'm sure there's a mod out there. I'll go check out youtube.

 

[kamspy]

:lol oh, fuck I can't believe I forgot the STALKER series.

[russian accent] Halo? Get out of here stalker![/accent]

 

[BobsRevenge]

Can't wait to properly play it again and finally experience Crysis for the first time. I'm not sure but the only thing I didn't like about Crysis was the crap ragdoll, has that changed? I'm sure there's a mod out there. I'll go check out youtube.

I thought the Crysis ragdolls were hilarious. :lol

The shotgun definitely got some interesting results of them.

 

[Dick Laurent]

Most of those offices listed in the OP are not going to have their own game.

most of them definitely do have their own games. kiev is working on warface I think, budapest is working on that 360 game, black sea is a strategy developer who previously made knights of honor and worldshift so I'm pretty sure they're working on a new strategy game anything else would be stupid, frankfurt is crysis2. this is already most of them, but uk is rumored to be working on a separate thing aswell.

 

[No_Style]

Far Cry is better than Crysis. Vast open levels and so many ways to tackle the objectives.

I agree!

Loved the shirt as well! :lol

 

[Sipowicz]

fucking love crytek

crysis was the best new ip this gen for shooters. it's so much fun

 

[subversus]

Far Cry is better than Crysis. Vast open levels and so many ways to tackle the objectives.

:lol :lol :lol

 

[-tetsuo-]

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.

F.E.A.R. would like to speak to you.

 

[kamspy]

F.E.A.R. would like to speak to you.

Eh, hard to tell since there was never any real range in FEAR.

But it's a close second if nothing else.

F.E.A.R. was Crysis before Crysis existed.

 

[Dick Laurent]

fucking love crytek

crysis was the best new ip this gen for shooters. it's so much fun

what this gen, crysis is last pc gen!

 

[ZeroRay]

what this gen, crysis is last pc gen!

Speaking of that, I'd like to see a game on the PC do what games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 did back in 2004, to show how outdated the current console tech really is.

Oh well, the original Crysis still does that well enough.

 

[Darklord]

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

Yeah I loved it when I shot a guy with a scoped gun in the chest and he didn't die or react. Then I did it again, and again and again. No death, no reaction. Amazing gameplay.

The graphics are amazing but the gameplay is average.

 

[MDSLKTR]

to show how outdated the current console tech really is.

No need for a new benchmark game. 1080p, good IQ, and good framerate on multiplatform titles do the job perfectly.
Besides Crysis 1 will still remain unmatched for another 10 years. The older it gets, the better it looks.

 

[dionysus]

Speaking of that, I'd like to see a game on the PC do what games like Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 did back in 2004, to show how outdated the current console tech really is.

Oh well, the original Crysis still does that well enough.

Crysis has been doing that sense release and is still scaling well with hardware and continues to do this.

 

[brain_stew]

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.

The licensing is going just fine, their clients just aren't video game studios that's all. They do a lot if business in professional and simulation markets.

 

[Nemo]

It's not about piracy to move to consoles, it's simply to turn that 3 million into 5-7 million sold. I'm sure now that both consoles are hacked they'll get pirated enough that they complain about it again

 

[AgentOtaku]

Man, it's crazy thinking that the makers of one of my all time favorite shooters resides only an hour away from me!

Bless you Crytek!

 

[faridmon]

:lol FarCry 2....

You chosose the wrong game to troll mate. FC2 was ace...

 

[Dennis]

You chose the wrong game to troll mate. FC2 was ass...

fixed

 

[BobsRevenge]

fixed

Call of Pripyat sucks.

 

[TacticalFox88]

I still wonder what prompted them to release the first Crysis game without it being optimized....

 

[DieH@rd]

I still wonder what prompted them to release the first Crysis game without it being optimized....

Damn i cant believe some people. That game is optimized just fine, with the only exception being the last boss fight.

 

[Dennis]

Call of Pripyat sucks.

I still wonder what prompted them to release the first Crysis game without it being optimized....

 

[iam220]

I still wonder what prompted them to release the first Crysis game without it being optimized....

At the time of release it was the best looking game on an 8800GT while maintaining 30fps. Today, it is still the best looking game. Just because crysis was not able to be maxed out day 1 does not mean it was poorly optimized.

 

[XPE]

Does the 22 million include the cost of developing the engine ?

 

[makingmusic476]

Didn't they say they felt remaining PC exclusive held Crysis' sales back significantly? I seem to recall something to that effect, but I can't find anything quite like that via Google.

I can't see them pulling figures like that across 360/ps3.

 

[Vaporak]

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

It's not about piracy to move to consoles, it's simply to turn that 3 million into 5-7 million sold. I'm sure now that both consoles are hacked they'll get pirated enough that they complain about it again

So how did going multiplatform with Unreal work out for epic again? It's not at all obvious from the evidence that multiplatform development increases the sales of a title; Multiplatform development is not the panacea that publishers hoped it would be.

 

[faridmon]

fixed

you didn't fixed anything, mate. I don't want you to fix my electrical systems.

FarCry 2 was miles better than FarCry.

 

[dLMN8R]

So how did going multiplatform with Unreal work out for epic again? Multiplatform development is not the panacea that publishers hoped it would be.

This is the overarching point of my original post in this thread - hyperbole seems to be damaging in both ways.

Hyperbole is damaging from negative press because other developers were convinced Crysis was a failure, keeping them from developing PC games using the same strategy as Crysis. In the end, that was a bit misguided.

Hyperbole is also damaging from positive press because it gives an overwhelmingly positive outlook in an area that might not actually give them guaranteed success. Look at how many console-only developers have folded up shop over the last few years - even developers with proven track-records at developing high-quality FPSs.

 

[Dick Laurent]

I can't see them pulling figures like that across 360/ps3.

can't see them pulling figures like that again on PC not being a PC exclusive either. Crysis 2 is going to fail hard! hehe

 

[darkpaladinmfc]

Call of Pripyat sucks.

You were meant to say Two Worlds II sucks!

 

[Dennis]

You were meant to say Two Worlds II sucks!

 

[-tetsuo-]

:lol :lol

 

[Dennis]

FUUUUUUUUU........

Everybody watch this YouTube video in 1080p. Looks incredible!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shZzYkpl5Nk&feature=player_embedded

 

[The Antitype]

So how did going multiplatform with Unreal work out for epic again? It's not at all obvious from the evidence that multiplatform development increases the sales of a title; Multiplatform development is not the panacea that publishers hoped it would be.

There's very little similar about Unreal and Crysis.

Nothing about the Unreal gameplay model suited consoles. It was way too fast and chaotic.

They were also published by Atari and Midway. Neither had any idea how to build brand cache for a console FPS in a post-Halo world.

Crysis is paced similarly to Halo, a console can handle that part of the equation. Electronic Arts can build enough brand cache to get the game noticed. If its actually good, then that will help too.

And honestly, I think PC buyers will buy Crysis 2 if it's good. Granted, PC gamers don't like it when developers tell them they're not profitable enough, but they also like playing good video games.

 

[szaromir]

I hear Unreal Tournament was a bad game, no wonder it tanked. Going multiplatform overall made wonders for Epic, they are just printing money nowadays with revenues from engine licensing and hits on various platforms.