CryEngine
German game engine used in Crytek titles and licensed widely.
Crytek GmbH · via Wikipedia: CryEngine · Public domain
CryEngine, often written as CRYENGINE, is a game engine created by Crytek, a German game developer. Every title Crytek has made runs on this engine, starting with *Far Cry*, and it keeps getting updates to work with new consoles and hardware. Outside of Crytek, other companies have licensed it for their own projects, such as *Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2* and *SNOW*. A heavily customized version, called Dunia, was built by Ubisoft from the *Far Cry* edition of CryEngine and powers later *Far Cry* games; that Dunia engine was later adapted further for titles like *The Crew 2*. Warhorse Studios also uses a modified CryEngine for their medieval RPG *Kingdom Come: Deliverance*. In April 2015, anonymous reports claimed Amazon paid between $50 and $70 million to license CryEngine. This led to Amazon releasing its own reworked version, Amazon Lumberyard, in February 2016. Then, in June 2021, the open-source Open 3D Engine was created from Amazon Lumberyard, itself based on CryEngine.
- Field
- Game engine
- Developer
- Crytek
- Nationality
- German
- First used in
- Far Cry
- Notable derivatives
- Dunia Engine, Amazon Lumberyard, Open 3D Engine
- Latest version mentioned
- CryEngine 5.7
Lore & Background
CryEngine 1 was first made and used for the first-person shooter Far Cry, originally developed as a technology demo for Nvidia. When video cards with support for 3.0 pixel and vertex shaders were released, Crytek released version 1.2, and later version 1.3 added HDR lighting. On March 30, 2006, Ubisoft acquired all intellectual property rights to the Far Cry franchise and a perpetual license to use the Far Cry edition of CryEngine, known as the Dunia Engine.
CryEngine 2 was used in Crytek's game Crysis and an updated version in Crysis Warhead. It was first licensed to IMAGTP for architectural visualization. CryEngine 3 was introduced at the 2009 Game Developers Conference, demonstrated on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and used for Crysis 2. On August 21, 2013, Crytek rebranded CryEngine starting from version 3.6.0 to simply 'CryEngine', adding support for Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U.
CryEngine V was announced on March 22, 2016, with a 'pay what you want' licensing model. In April 2022, version 5.7 was released, stated to be the last version of CryEngine V, with developers confirming they are working on a new iteration. The CryEngine software development kit, originally called Sandbox Editor, uses an additive editing style and includes a WYSIWYP feature.
Reader's Guide
CryEngine's significance lies in its role as a foundational technology for Crytek's own titles and its influence on other engines. It was licensed to Amazon for $50–70 million, leading to Amazon Lumberyard in February 2016, and subsequently the open-source Open 3D Engine in June 2021. Ubisoft's heavily modified Dunia Engine, derived from CryEngine 1, has been used in later Far Cry games and The Crew 2. The engine has been adopted for diverse purposes, including military training (Australian Defence Force used CryEngine 3 for a virtual landing helicopter dock ship) and education (Ringling College of Art & Design licensed CryEngine 2). Its legacy includes enabling large-terrain sandbox game design and providing a free SDK for non-commercial development, fostering modding communities. The engine's evolution from CryEngine 1 through CryEngine V reflects ongoing adaptation to new hardware and licensing models.
Did You Know?
- According to anonymous reports in April 2015, CryEngine was licensed to Amazon for $50–70 million.
- The Australian Defence Force used CryEngine 3 to train Navy personnel on a virtual landing helicopter dock ship.
- Ringling College of Art & Design became the first higher education institution to license CryEngine 2 for educational purposes.
- CryEngine V version 5.7 was the last version of CryEngine V, with developers working on a new iteration.
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