Cevat Yerli: Crysis graphics were designed for the future
Crytek co-founder and former CEO Cevat Yerli in conversation with PC Gamer told why the original Crysis, which came out in 2007, turned out to be incredibly demanding on hardware. He also explained that the developers deliberately made a game that was ahead of its time.
"We designed Crysis with 2010 hardware in mind to ensure the game would remain relevant for as long as possible," Yerli said.
This strategy has led to the fact that even flagship video cards of 2007, such as GeForce 8800 Ultra и Radeon HD 2900 XT, couldn't cope with the game on maximum graphics settings. Crysis required power that was unavailable even for top-end hardware at the time.
"Graphics modes Ultra and Very High were not originally intended to be used at launch. But players tried to squeeze out the maximum right away, which led to disappointment," Yerli added.
Meme: "Will it handle Crysis?", which arose from these circumstances, became a symbol of the technical power of the game. Erli admits that the joke still amuses him:
"It was a double-entendre meme - both good and bad at the same time. I loved it. Even NVIDIA once joked about it when introducing the new GPU: "Yes, it will handle Crysis."
Crysis has become a cult game thanks to its innovative CryEngine 2 engine, which raised the bar for graphics quality to a new level. Despite criticism for its excessive hardware requirements, Crytek was able to set the standard for the entire industry.
Today, Crysis remains one of the most recognizable games, and in 2022, Crytek confirmed the development fourth part of the series, which will once again have to live up to the high expectations of players.
