Crytek abandons idea of PC exclusive games
by Dustin Burg 
{ Apr 30th 2008 at 10:15AM }
Chatting with PC Play, president of Crytek Cevat Yerli talked about their non-PC exclusive plans going forward saying that currently they're dealing with "huge piracy that is encompassing Crysis". This PC piracy problem is the biggest reason for their change of heart as Yerli admits that "it [piracy] was a big lesson for us and I believe we won't have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future."
Future non-PC exclusive games from Crytek is nothing but great news for 360 owners. But does that confirm Crysis on the 360? No sir. Though, it does open the window of possibility a little further allowing a draft of hope to waft in.
[Via GamesIndustry.biz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SugarDaddy @ Apr 30th 2008 10:33AM
Bunch of asses. How did they not see that one coming? They would have gotten much better sales if they released it on the 360 or PS3. People would have actually been able to play it instead of investing $600+ in computer upgrades just to get the damn thing to run at a reasonable detail.
Studley @ Apr 30th 2008 10:47AM
Yeah, because nobody pirates console games.
Cole Mullenbach @ Apr 30th 2008 10:59AM
There are a lot more people pirating PC games than console games. If you pirate 360 or ps3 games there is a good chance that MS or Sony will disable your console from being able to go online or doing anything, but Pirating PC games, its a lot harder to get caught, and its a lot easier.
Chris @ Apr 30th 2008 11:29AM
Disable your console from doing anything? Lmao. You can still play online with a modded 360 and if you didn't want to get caught you could just play backups offline easily. Just seeing over 5000 people downloading GTA IV off one torrent shows that piracy exists on every console, 'cept it's not easy as doing it on PC.
AoE @ May 1st 2008 3:50PM
Cole, you're right that MS/Sony could restrict users from accessing thier online services; but crippling a users' console is illegal and would bring deeply damaging and unwinable (for Sony/MS) lawsuits should they ever try such shenanigans, which is why they don't.
And Studley/Chris, you guys are right that everyone pirates, but let's face facts; in the console world because of all of the barriers that exist for piracy the total number of people who pirate is much MUCH smaller than in the PC world. 5000 people downloading a torrent of GTAIV may sound like a lot... but didn't one of the analysts' predict something like 9 million copies sold at launch? 5k is a drop in the bucket... The PC piracy scene is much much much worse.
hjungle @ Apr 30th 2008 11:14AM
This seems incredibly naive for a PC developer. Piracy is a huge issue, to be sure, but it seems as if developers are using it as a scapegoat to cover up their own inadequacies.
Crysis was hyped on it's technical prowess and lacked any sort of mainstream appeal. It was another first person shooter for the PC with exclusively high-end requirements.
It is easier to blame those sales that never were, though.
Tony @ Apr 30th 2008 11:26AM
Well, frankly it's not terribly difficult for them to get a general idea of how many people are pirating their game either. I can find dozens of copies of this on torrent sites, instant numbers of seeders, instant numbers of people trying to get it.
It's not some exact science, but it's clearly a problem. Complaining about people actually stealing something you actually made is not making something a scapegoat.
Deck @ Apr 30th 2008 11:27AM
I am not sure what exactly they expected but they didn't think much about it it seems.
First of all they developed a game that could only run at full potential on a select few PCs. After that, they thought there wasn't going to be a Piracy issue? But the thing is, how well did they expect the game to do? Take Sins of a Solar Empire for example, PC only, no anti-piracy stuff on the disk and its doing very well.
Oh well, i'll playing Crysis if it comes to the 360. Where I can actually play it.
xenocidic @ Apr 30th 2008 11:59AM
I don't really understand this term "PC exclusive".
Who pays for the exclusivity? Intel?
It's more of a "PC only" game.
Matt @ Apr 30th 2008 1:59PM
Exclusive, in this case, is a general term that just means it's only on a certain platform. Being "exclusive" doesn't mean someone paid something.
useedems @ Apr 30th 2008 2:53PM
Exactly, just because Microsoft buys exclusives, don't let that redefine your idea of exclusivity.
Trekster_Gamer @ Apr 30th 2008 12:03PM
Pirating occurs on all platforms and has since the C64 was king. This has not stopped Video Games from making more money than Movies each year for some time now. I think devs are starting to realize that people are sick of upgrading there PC every 2 years in order to play the newest games, sure the PC flavor looks better (some of the time) but is it worth it for a few more polygons to spend twice to three times the amount for hardware?
AoE @ May 1st 2008 3:56PM
For people who are into tweaking/optimizing hardware, it most certainly is... for the rest of us, there are consoles.
To be honest, the only staunch PC gamers I know kind of remind me of the audiophiles I know. Audiophiles will have the most amazing, most perfectly configured stereos you could possibly imagine... that they use ONLY to listen to Jazz (and usually not even very interesting Jazz at that); for them though the pleasure is in finding/buying/setting up/tuning the stereo... PC gamers (at least the two hardcore ones I know) are likewise more concerned with their machines than what they actually play on them...
Grimm @ Apr 30th 2008 4:21PM
It's amazing the lack of common sense the average person has. You would think game designers would be intelligent people but no. First of all the PC market is much much smaller then the console market. Unless your making WOW don't even bother. Second, all I need to say here is TORRENTS. Damn newbs...