With the indie gaming world growing more and more, it is important to support these groups and to make sure they have as many options as possible for their developments. A little over a year ago Unreal Engine 4 was made free to everyone. It looks like Crytek is following the trend with their own CryEngine.
CryEngine was popularized by its use in both the Crysis and Far Cry series. It is, however, far less used than the Unreal Engine. That may be about to change as Crytek has just released this software to the world. Since it is under a model to pay as you wish, you can obtain the engine for free. To further support developers, any purchases made can have up to %70 go towards an Indie Development Fund. As you can most likely predict, this is for independent developers to apply for to gain a larger budget on their projects made with CryEngine.
There is, however, one catch for those who begin using this engine. Nothing developed feature any of the following:
- military projects
- gambling
- simulation
- science
- architecture
- pornography
- Serious Games (any game with a primary purpose other than entertainment)
Anyone who wishes can also pay either $50 or $150 a month for the base or premium insider memberships, respectively. These give members access to support resources from Crytek. Since we have seen people do some amazing things with Unreal after it was set free to the public, I am looking forward to the wave of projects coming with the release of CryEngine.