Crytek transitioning from packaged goods to a free-to-play model

[Shawn Knight]

It seems that gamers aren’t the only ones fed up with DLC and costly online services. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said that he felt these premium services (think Activision and EA) were “milking customers to death” and that once his company has completed their contracts with boxed products, they will only produce free-to-play titles.

Yerli spoke with Videogames.com during the final day of this year’s E3 conference. He told the publication that Warface will be the company’s first multiplayer FPS in the free-to-play category through their social gaming platform known as Gface. Yerli said he knew during their time developing console games that online and free-to-play was the future of gaming.

He describes Crytek as going through a transitional phase from packaged goods to an entirely free-to-play experience and further iterates that all games and any new projects in the future will support this model. But if you are expecting junk titles, think again; all future games will have a triple-A production standard with budgets ranging from $10 million to $30 million.

The interview didn’t touch on a couple of particularly important questions. With an online model, is it safe to say that Crytek is done producing single-player titles? If so, this could be a real letdown to gamers who aren’t fans of multiplayer or those who live in areas with limited Internet connectivity.

Also, if Crytek plans to make games that cost upwards of $30 million but give them away for free, how do they plan to make a profit? Yerli already spoke out against DLC so it would seem unlikely that they would try and sell gamers additional in-game items. Perhaps the titles will be ad-supported? Or maybe they plan to charge users through Gface, which in itself would be a "paid online service."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/48934-crytek-transitioning-from-packaged-goods-to-a-free-to-play-model.html

 

[oldikes]

Of course they are gonna charge for in game items, thats how free to play works.

Although I would absolutely love to be proved wrong.

 

[madboyv1]

Honestly I don't mind paying for good games. I just take issue with having to deal with multiplayer games with a campaign side story, or having to pay additional for cosmetic items (which includes "upgraded" weapons), and of course, the recent run with always online games.

I have no problem paying for DLC either, but the game as a whole shouldn't run off of them. =/

 

[psycros]

So..Crytek says EA and Activision are "milking customers to death" with traditional DLC and boxed products...? And their answer is to make online-only cash store extravaganzas? Excuse me while I wipe the tears of ironic mirth from my eyes. DLC, a lot of patching and user mods are the only thing that made the original Crysis worth playing, and Crysis II with its ridiculous psychic bots was ultimately a letdown. I don't think we need bring up Crysis 3..ahem. If they wanna abandon single player, I say let 'em - somebody else will probably do it better anyway. But they should at least be honest about their motivations, I.e. cutting out the middleman and milking us directly, while never having to code another AI. Well, F U Crytek.

 

[Guest]

The only problem I have with DLC is when they make it exclusively for pre-orders and certain services. Like this one is "Steam" only, or "PS3" only, etc.

If it's a game I like, and the DLC is well made (following the quality of the rest of the game), then I'll happily pay for it. I have the money, and I want more out of my favorite games. Just don't expect me to pre-order a game I know nothing about, just to get a pre-order bonus/DLC.

Free to play is utter crap! I want to buy a game and own it. I'm sick of renting everything in this world. I'm sick of depending on my internet connection being stable in order to be able to play my games. If this is the future of gaming, then I'm just gonna stop participating. I didn't buy Diablo 3, or Mass Effect 3 or any other stupid "always online" game. I'd rather dig up on old SNES on Ebay than submit to this type of marketing.

Wake up, people. Gaming is turning into pay-per-view.

 

[Littleczr]

I bought the BF3 premium, madboy said I don't mind paying for good games either. But some of the utter feces they poot out there it deserves to get pirated.

 

[Ranger1st]

I'm all for supporting ANY AAA game studio that WANTS to walk away from EA/Activision, I hope this succeedsbecause I'd love to see more companies take this route. EA/Activision have destroyed more games/franchises then I can remember the past 30 years.

and Psycros, you mad bro.. get over it.

 

[WaveZero]

Oh noes!! Not the pay to win crap, hate those type of games.

 

[agissi]

^ Exactly me too! And Im not going to sit around playing a game getting smashed for 20 hours to unlock a competitive weapon.

 

[Mantrhax]

DLC is for pussies

 

[Guest]

Hopefully the FTP market goes the same way as MMORPGS and becomes so oversaturated and homogeneous that people get bored and lose interest, rendering it commercially unsustainable.

 

[Burty117]

I bought the BF3 premium.

How much did you have to pay for it?

In England its £50 but we've found a way to make it much cheaper.
Use an Indian Proxy and then try to purchase it to find that its only £17!
Worked like a charm on 2 of my mates accounts so far, Will be doing it myself in the next week.

Anywho, Crytek are another company that is now dead to me, the original Crysis was absolutely epic, still is an all timer for me but they've ruined themselves with this and the other rubbish they've produced since.

 

[Guest]

[FONT=Helvetica]"Yerli said he knew during their time developing console games that online and free-to-play was the future of gaming."[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica]As far as I am concerned, 99% multiplayer gaming, free-to-Play + pay for items/microtransactions would be the end of gaming for me. Even today, the state of gaming is nowhere near the glory days of the 80s and late 90s. [/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica]With new generation of kids with ADD, inability to play difficult games which brought about health regeneration and made Hard difficulty more like Normal or easy of the past, most single player games having 5-10 hours campaigns, etc. the signs are already there. Gaming as an entire genre is going mainstream/noobish. If most titles in the future are just mindless multiplayer shooters like Warface and Blacklight Retribution, I'd rather spend my $ at a shooting range with real guns. [/FONT]