Crytek: Console vs PC & More Updates
Ahead of the highly anticipated announcements of Sony’s next PlayStation and Microsoft’s next Xbox, which are anticipated to mark a substantial enhancement in graphics power for home console gaming, a developer with insider knowledge about what these machines will bring has asserted that PC gaming will continue to be the ultimate destination for the most exceptional visuals.
Sony is slated to unveil the next PlayStation this Wednesday, while Microsoft is reportedly set to announce its next Xbox in April. Leaked specifications for both consoles suggest a significant leap over the current generation. Digital Foundry has more details on this.
The German games company Crytek has a multi-platform shooter, Crysis 3, hitting the shelves this Friday, and it is also rumored to be working on a next-generation Xbox game, Ryse. This puts Crytek in a prime position to make comparisons.
Despite being bound by non-disclosure agreements with both Microsoft and Sony, Crytek boss Cevat Yerli told Eurogamer that Crysis 3 running on a powerful PC appears more visually stunning than the upcoming next-generation games. In fact, he claims it is “impossible” for consoles to match the capabilities of gaming PCs.
The primary reason for this, according to Yerli, is cost. “Without violating the existing non-disclosure agreements, realistically, from a purely price perspective, it is simply not feasible. It is impossible to incorporate $2000 – $3000 worth of components into a mainstream console that is typically priced at, let’s say, $500. I’m not suggesting that these consoles will be priced at $500. They might introduce a console at $2000, but the consumer pricing is usually much lower than that. So, considering the consumer pricing and the cost of manufacturing a gaming PC along with the amount of power it requires, which is comparable to that of a fridge, it is simply not achievable.”
Yerli stated that Crytek’s assertion in 2009 that its CryEngine 3 game engine was “next-gen ready” was a result of internal predictions regarding hardware evolution. “We employed Moore’s Law. If you predict how hardware will evolve at the current rate of progress, and then consider the evolution of consumer pricing, as early as two years ago, it was evident that whatever is launched in 2013, 2014, or 2015, will never surpass a PC.”
“When we presented at GDC, we declared that CryEngine 3 was next-gen ready. That statement was born out of the research and prediction of the direction things were headed. It was clear at that time that we were capable of creating next-gen games because there wouldn’t be much more that the CryEngine couldn’t handle at that point.”
Yerli further added that console manufacturers are facing an uphill battle when competing with PCs due to the advancements in PC gaming since the launch of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. “If you examine PC gaming, it has also undergone significant changes. The entire modular approach to designing a PC nowadays, where you can incorporate two, three, or four graphics cards, and you can use water cooling and overclock to an unlimited extent, did not exist even six or seven years ago. Back then, you would simply purchase one or perhaps two graphics cards and be extremely enthusiastic about it. It is extremely challenging to compete with this. People have these massive ‘nuclear power plants’ in their rooms that can run their games at incredibly high speeds. It is difficult to keep up with that.”
Crytek is renowned for its PC games. The first Crysis, released exclusively for PC in 2007, gained a reputation for its demanding system requirements. However, fans accused Crytek of dumbing down the follow-up, Crysis 2, as the developer focused on a multi-platform release for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
Yerli mentioned that Crytek made a concentrated effort with Crysis 3 to push the graphics to the absolute limit to satisfy its PC gaming enthusiasts. “This time, the consoles couldn’t achieve a significant improvement. It was only a five or ten percent gain. That’s all. We enhanced the visual and perceived quality of the consoles through various techniques, not just brute force technology. So, I believe it is an improvement over Crysis 2 on consoles. But the PC version, due to the now much more advanced specifications, which is two years later, effectively two generations of PCs that we can leverage, and with DirectX 11 fully implemented, we can truly push the boundaries. I once made a joke saying, ‘we’re going to melt PCs,’ and I think we are going to do it again. People desire that, and we will deliver.”
“With Crysis 2, we attempted to make the game accessible to as many PC gamers as possible. Then we received feedback from the most vocal group, which were the enthusiast PC gamers, saying, ‘our PCs are running this game at 200 frames. What’s going on? We should be running at 30 frames.’ Crytek is probably the only company where, when you read the forums and YouTube, people are excited if they can’t run the game. I don’t think this is the case with any other game company. Our graphics programmers said, ‘we’re going to give them a game they can’t run anymore.'”
Increased power is just one of the advancements that the next-generation consoles will bring. Yerli stated that both the next PlayStation and Xbox will simplify the process for developers to update their games. Currently, strict certification processes require developers to submit the final release code often months before the planned release. Updating and patching on consoles is a time-consuming and costly procedure. On PC, there are no such obstacles.
“Sony and Microsoft are both aiming to improve the process of updating live games and online games,” Yerli said. “They also understand that as soon as a game is launched, whether it is in a retail or digital format, it needs to be maintained and serviced. This concept of servicing was not a consideration when they introduced the Xbox and PlayStation. But it is a thought that has emerged in the last two years, as the shift from viewing games as a product to seeing them as a service has occurred. And when games are treated as a service, the platform must also transform into a service-oriented platform.”
