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Crytek's Cevat Yerli

On Crysis and being super badass.

Eurogamer Are you completely confident that the DirectX 10 issues will be resolve in time to hit the November 16 release date?
Cevat Yerli

Yes, absolutely. We will resolve them in the next two weeks actually.

Eurogamer So far Crysis is only set to appear on PC, but you've clearly invested a huge amount of time and money in the project. Can you afford not to do a console version?
Cevat Yerli

Yes, absolutely. From a business point of view I think we'll see a return of investment, clearly. When I look at the forecast it works out already for us.

Which is the reason we said at the beginning we wanted to focus on quality - because ultimately it's quality that makes sales. I don't believe in games which are shallow and sold by marketing only.

We said, 'If we'd buy Crysis ourselves, then we have done our job.' And if it sets new benchmarks in the genre - like visuals, like AI - and we have a sense of focus, we will see a positive effect.

The reason for no consoles is simple: any console development would have deviated from our efforts. It would have distracted us, it would have forced compromises because of memory limitations on those platforms. We'd have to design different levels, and it would have been more difficult to create the sensation of a living world.

EurogamerSo there are no plans to bring Crysis to consoles in future?
Cevat Yerli

The only way I can see Crysis on consoles right now is as a variation of it. And I don't have any plans right now for a variation of Crysis.

EurogamerYou have a PlayStation 3 R&D room here, but there doesn't seem to be an Xbox 360 room. Why is that?
Cevat Yerli

Actually we have one, but it's separate. PC and 360 are in one room. The PS3 room is separate because we have some secret technologies being developed there which are not related to CryEngine 2. Our PS3 development is going deeper than many people assume right now.

There are competitors right now who have PS3 technologies up and running. We had our initial version up and running, but we said there are too many compromises.

Yes, we could have commercialised the engine business et cetera, but we felt that if you want to make console games one day - if you want to get groundbreaking results and do things people think are impossible, you need technologies and solutions for that.

The platform itself has a lot of power, but the technology has to provide a framework for the developer so we can unleash that kind of gameplay.

EurogamerDo you have a room for Wii R&D?
Cevat Yerli

We have Wii development but it's very small, it's more like testing ideas. We don't have a project at this stage.

We have a console game in development right now which won't be announced for a while. It's a complete departure from Crysis and Far Cry, it's not a first-person shooter. For that, we're optimising technology, but for another reason, the future in general, there is a dedicated PS3 team.

Nintendo Wii is certainly on the radar. We will do something for Nintendo Wii - the question is when. I think some time maybe in three or four years, but nobody knows when.

Cevat Yerli is CEO of Crytek. You can read a full preview of Crysis, view screenshots and see video of the game elsewhere on Eurogamer.

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