cryengine

Relooking at Cryengine after Kingdom come Deliverance 2

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 demonstrates that CryEngine still holds a significant place in delivering immersive, high-quality 3D gaming experiences. In an industry where engines like Unreal have broadened their focus to cater to diverse applications

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17 Feb 2025 — 3 min read

Recently, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 was announced, and the game looks stunning. It’s impressive to see Warhorse Studios still using CryEngine, especially given Crytek's recent struggles. Despite this, the engine continues to produce breathtaking visuals, proving it remains a viable tool for game development.game

Here is the latest gameplay trailer its very good and immersive.

Kingdom Come Deliverance Gameplay Trailer

Why Take Another Look at CryEngine?

KCD2 is a rare case of a modern game sticking with CryEngine, while many other developers—especially from the same region—have migrated to Unreal. For example, STALKER 2 switched to Unreal Engine, facing its own set of challenges along the way.

This decision makes Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 stand out. Warhorse Studios, much like Larian Studios with Baldur’s Gate 3, has managed to ship a successful game on an engine that’s not widely adopted. There’s an insightful video detailing Warhorse’s journey from their first game to this sequel:

Youtube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M3pUICJMUEc&t=259s

My Search for a New Game Engine

Lately, I’ve been exploring alternatives to Unity. I briefly experimented with Dagor Engine, but it’s too bare-bones for indie developers. I also looked into Lumberyard/O3DE, a fork of CryEngine 3, but it has diverged into robotics and simulation rather than game development. With no notable indie games released on it—aside from Star Citizen—it didn’t seem like a viable choice.

Ultimately, I found myself switching between the two major engines, Unreal and Unity, before settling on Unity for my current game project, Sun and Moon.

Cryengine vs Unreal

There’s a video on Reddit and YouTube featuring Kingdom Come’s creative director, Dan Vávra, discussing why they stuck with CryEngine instead of moving to Unreal. He also touches on CD Projekt Red’s decision to abandon their proprietary REDengine in favor of Unreal, a move we’ve seen from other studios as well (Halo's switch to Unreal, for instance).

One reason Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 might still use CryEngine is that when development started nine years ago, Unreal Engine 4 wasn’t well-optimized for open-world games. Similarly, Metal Gear Solid V used a custom engine instead of Unreal because, at the time, proprietary tech could better suit the game’s needs.

Unity vs Unreal for My Projects

I still feel Unity struggles with handling larger open-world scenes, but I appreciate its C# scripting. Meanwhile, Unreal offers an easy start, but as complexity increases, reliance on C++ becomes necessary. While Epic Games has tried to simplify C++, it still has a steep learning curve.

Unreal also has its own issues, particularly with optimization. New features like Nanite and Lumen are impressive, but they don’t always integrate smoothly with other systems. Even high-profile games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth still run on Unreal Engine 4 instead of upgrading to UE5.

My Wishlist for CryEngine

Despite its decline in popularity, I wish Crytek would bring CryEngine back to the forefront. Here are two things I’d love to see:

Proper C# support similar to Flax Engine for easier scripting.
An updated GUI system to replace Flash/Scaleform, which feels outdated.

Exploring Open-Source and Custom Engines

I also considered open-source engines, but most feel too bare-bones to be practical. Sticking with Unity or Unreal seems more efficient, though I toyed with the idea of modifying an engine myself. Unfortunately, C++ remains a major barrier. Perhaps AI-assisted coding will make custom engine development more viable in the future.

If you’re interested in rolling your own tech, check out this post from Sebastian Aaltonen:

https://x.com/sebaaltonen/status/1887770458885386404?s=46

Final Thoughts

CryEngine’s strength lies in its laser-focus on creating immersive, high-quality 3D gaming experiences. While Unreal Engine has broadened its horizons—catering not just to gaming but to a variety of industries, bolstered by successes like Fortnite—CryEngine has chosen to specialize.

Crytek did attempt to branch out similarly, but the kind of funding that supports a multi-industry engine is hard to come by. Looking back at the impressive demos from both Crytek and third-party developers, it’s clear that CryEngine is more than capable. With renewed investment and focus, there's every chance that CryEngine could stage a significant comeback, proving that sometimes, specialization truly shines in the competitive landscape of game development.