Crytek

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Crytek

Type	GmbH
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Frankfurt, Germany
Key people	Cevat Yerli, Avni Yerli
Industry	Computer and video game industry
Products	CryEngine CryEngine 2 Crysis Far Cry
Employees	187
Website	Crytek

Crytek is a german video game company founded in 1999 by three brothers of Turkish descent: Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli. Crytek's main headquarters reside in Frankfurt, Germany with two other studios in Kiev, Ukraine and Budapest, Hungary^[1]. Crytek’s development team is 187 game professionals from different locations such as Europe (151), Canada (3 people), the United States (6), Brazil (1), Turkey (9), Israel (3), India (1), China (1), Russia (4), Japan (2), Australia (5), Macedonia (2), and New Zealand (1).^[2] They are best known for developing the game Far Cry and the CryEngine that the game uses which includes PolyBump, a version of normal mapping technology, and more recent achievements such as Crysis and CryEngine 2. Crytek has partnerships with Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, FMOD, Scaleform, Xoreax Software, Sparkasse Coburg, and Rating Services.

1 History
2 Games developed
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Crytek was founded by Yerli brothers in 1999 in Coburg, Germany. Its history starts with the ECTS 2000. It was there that Crytek impressed all the big publishers with their tech demo at the NVIDIA booth. They continued releasing demos over the years of a game called X-Isle (which evolved into what we now know as Far Cry). In May 2, 2002, Crytek announced its game engine CryEngine.

In 2003, Crytek attended the Game Developers Conference (GDC), where they showcased their new engine and its technology. "We've got awesome demonstrations planned which will showcase the very latest CryEngine technology, including Tools (CryEDIT, Exporters), Visuals (Polybump, Lighting & Shadows), Audio (Dynamic Music with full Dolby Digital 5.1 support), A.I. (Easy to Script) and Physics (Rope, Rag Doll, Liquid) plus the uniquely rendering power of the CryEngine."^[3]

Also in 2003, Crytek was at ECTS again where FarCry was the awarded "Best PC Game". In the same month Crytek modified CryEngine to be optimized for AMD64.

In February 2004, Crytek offices were raided in the morning by the German Police Department, acting on an ex-intern's claim that Crytek was using software illegally, or pirating. The police investigated for more software copies than licenses purchased but ultimately found nothing.^[4]

Also in this month Crytek & EA announced a strategic partnership. Later in the year (December), Crytek and ATI created a hollywood-style machinima^[5] to help demonstrate the future of PC gaming.

On January 23, 2006, Crytek announced the development of Crysis, on the premise that it would be an original first person shooter with a new kind of gameplay challenge requiring "adaptive tactics".^[6] It has since won several Best PC Game awards from E3 and GC.

Three months later, Crytek moved to new offices in Frankfurt.

The first public demonstration of Crytek's CryEngine 2 was held on the same day Crysis was announced (January 23) but one year later (2007). It has been licensed by many companies such as Avatar Reality, WeMade Entertainment, Entropia Universe, XLGames, Reloaded Studios, 1st Educational Institution, and Games Academy GmbH.

On May 11, 2007, Crytek announced that their satellite studio in Kiev, Ukraine, had been upgraded to a full development studio, giving the company its second development studio. The second studio is currently working on a game based on Crytek's new intellectual property.

About a week after the upgrade of the Kiev studio, Crytek announced a new studio in Budapest, Hungary. Like the Kiev studio, the Budapest studio's focus is heavily on development with the CryEngine 2.^[7]

Most recently, Crytek attended The G*STAR Game and Trade Show in Seoul, Korea from November 8-11 2007.

Cevat Yerli, president of Crytek Studios announced Crytek may no longer be making PC exclusives due to copyright infringement^[8].

Strangely enough, Crytek's next game, Crysis Warhead, was announced on June 5, 2008 and will be a PC exclusive game. ^[9]