Crytek is making changes to the business model for its graphics engine, offering CryEngine as a subscription service rather than a payment package with royalties.
Developers get access to the engine's development tools new and old for a $10 monthly fee, and they don't have to pay Crytek any more than that out of their revenue. The decision follows the news of Epic Games making the same change with its Unreal Engine 4, though the subscription for their engine is $19 per month.
"When we announced the new CryEngine this was our first step towards creating an engine as a service. We are happy to announce now that the latest update of CryEngine will soon be available to all developers on a subscription basis," said Crytek's Director of Business Development, Carl Jones. "We are really excited to make CryEngine available to hundreds of thousands of developers working with Crytek to make awesome games."
I'm not sure how the overall cost to developers stacks up against the old model in the long run, but the monthly fee is pretty reasonable, and not having to pay royalties over the lifetime of your product sounds enticing.
The engine is powerful and can produce some gorgeous games, as seen in titles such as the Crysis series, State of Decay, and Ryse: Son of Rome. CryEngine is used across all platforms, from iOS to PC and next-gen consoles.
The new engine-as-a-service program will begin in May, and Crytek will continue to offer the free CryEngine SDK model for non-commercial development.
