There was a time when a Crytek game was announced, and the entire industry sat up in anticipation. The merits of the actual game design in Crytek’s games can be debated till winter comes, but on the whole, Crytek’s games were of shockingly high production values, and the graphics they boasted became industry landmarks for years to come (most infamously, 2007’s Crysis).
Somehow, with a series of misguided console games and free to play titles, Crytek managed to sully its brand and its reputation. Apparently the studio recognizes that, because, having just undergone an extremely difficult transitional period, it says it will work to rebuild its reputation.
“Crytek… is about focusing on our core competency, which is making really high quality games,” Crytek co-founder Avni Yeril said to MCV at Gamescom. “When we deliver those games we will hopefully be back on track, and people will see Crytek in the way that it deserves to be seen.”
However, and this is important- Yeril was still speaking in context of the company providing online and digital products, such as free to play games, which the company once famously stated are the way of the future.
Maybe so. Maybe Crytek is being visionary here, and blazing a trail. Personally, I think they are being misguided, because the kinds of games they make, the kinds of games that they were known for, simply cannot be achieved on a scale of a free to play game.
But maybe I am wrong, and I shall be proven wrong. Prove me wrong, Crytek.