Crytek: UE4 Just Now Catching Up with CryEngine 3
CryEngine 3 offered Unreal Engine 4's level of quality three years ago, claims Crytek head.
In a recent interview with VentureBeat, Crytek head Cevat Yerli said Unreal Engine 4's level of quality has existed in CryEngine 3 for the last three years. There are also "tangible differences" between the two software engines, something people won't notice when they're comparing in-game screenshots.
"You can go back three years ago to the GDC videos," he said. "What we put out there is pretty much what Unreal Engine 4 put out now. And what many others are doing now too. We haven’t really put out our latest stuff yet."
He goes on to say that the next iteration of CryEngine will be revealed soon, but the current engine has been next-gen ready since 2009.
"If I look at what people call next-gen technology now, it’s what we were seeing three years ago," Yerli added. "We already had massive particle systems, we already had GPU rendering, all these things. Deferred shading. We had tessellation already since we shipped Crysis 2. We already had DX11. We didn’t just talk it up as tech demos, we have games that are shipped and are doing it."
So at this level, what's the difference between CryEngine 3 and competitors like Unreal Engine 4? He said it's the "fluidity of the overall experience," comparing the differences with an Android phone and an iPhone. Both can do the same things, but the iPhone feels more fluid, more organic.
"It’s not just about ticking off boxes next to features," he said. "It’s a holistic experience that has to be fluid and flawless and real. Not show. It must be real. That’s us and what CryEngine always stands for. It was always a very substantial, robust, polished experience that gamers will see."
"I also think that we are dedicated to online games," he added. "When you look at our number of licensees in that space, we have more licensees than any other engine in the online space. In the console space it’s a different story. In the console space we’re definitely not leading. But I think the next time around, it’s going to be a very different picture."
Sounds like a challenge, Epic.

I read this as: "Consoles suck."
Jealousy is stating facts?
Can the average Joe even run Crysis 3 at maximum everything like we see in Crytek's demos? They are practically as appropriate as Epic showcasing their tech with demos, even if neither is actually a game, or if Epic even has plans for a AAA PC games.
I like the argument that Crytek makes games.. while Epic hasn't exactly abandoned PC gaming in order to pursue Gears on consoles.. but on a tech side of things it is hard to say if Crytek is better at making AAA PC games than Epic. It really is an apple and android comparison.
Jealousy is stating facts?
While crytek has had tech advantage for a while now, UE4 has the advantage of better marketing.. I have heard a lot more of my console gamer friends talk about UE4 and next gen more so than i ever heard talking about Cryengine 3
The sky is blue saying that must mean I'm jealous. Damn you sky and your blueness!
The console Crysis came out in 2011...
Crysis 3 didn't ship with anything, because it hasn't shipped yet. Early 2013. It will have tesselation.
I read this as: "Consoles suck."
Dude I clealry mis-typed. If you read the article he implied Crysis 2 (yes 2, not 3, terrible sorry) shipped with DX11, which it definitely did not. You intentionally took an obvious typo and spun it.
Besides that. The company that shows off their engine more, and has greater market penetration, is obviously going to be talked about more, regardless of if your engine has been prettier for longer.
Personally, I would place money in UE4 then Cryengine 3.
But in either case, I'm curious to see how future games will look and run on either engine. Maybe my video cards DX abilities will finally be put to use.