PC gamers, this is a good day today as Cevat Yerli has finally spilled the beans and revealed – in an interview with Eurogamer – why Crysis 2 did not feature huge levels, similar to those found in the first Crysis game. According to Cevat, Crytek believed that the sandbox experienced (offered by both Far Cry and Crysis games) was perceived as something of an elite gamer kind of thing. Crytek got disappointed as other, more linear, games were selling better than Crysis and decided to join them.
As Cevat Yerli said:
“We felt a sandbox game that requires a lot of freedom like Crysis 1 was perceived as something of an elite gamer kind of thing. Other games that were more commercially successful than Crysis as a formula were more handholding. They were entirely handholding experiences. We tried to bring in this choreographed sandbox formula to the table, which is mixing the volume of a sandbox from Crysis 2 with some of the linearity you would see – some of it only, like 10 per cent only – in some of the more successful IPs out there. We got critiques from others. Newbies liked it more than the previous one. It was a mixed opinion.”
Ironically, this move did not pay off as Cevat revealed that with Crysis 2, Crytek was going to spend a lot of money making it a high quality experience on console as well. However, the game was not profitable at any point, as Cevat stated that their investment was going to, hopefully, return for them now with Crysis 3. For the record, Crysis was a profitable game for Crytek, something that was stated by Cevat himself back in 2008.
Not only that, but according to Cevat the console sales are down. And although the PC retail sales are also decreasing, the online sales are growing thanks to the digital distribution services (GOG and Steam to name a few). What’s also funny here is that Crysis 2 did not sell as well as Crytek had hoped to. And given the fact that it’s not a graphical powerhouse, the long-term sales of the PC version will be lower than those of the first Crysis game.
So, there you have it everyone. Cevat has finally admitted what most of us already knew. It’s just sad that instead of offering more of what they were so good at, Crytek decided to focus on making a more linear game; a decision made in order to maximize its earnings and nothing more.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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