The developers at Crytek have announced today a major update for their CRYENGINE technology, offering licensees access to an array of new features that have been showcased in the previously released Ryse: Son of Rome. The update, in short, not only optimizes the engine for next-gen technology like the PS4, Xbox One and Wii U, but also adds Linux support and updates to the existing PC, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS and Android support.

Some of these new updates will include:

  • Physically Based Shading, which swaps out traditional observationally based shading for a real world physics model that simulates the interaction between light and materials;
  • Geometry Cache, which uses efficient, cache-based animations to realize the msot complex simulations (cloth, explosions, fluid dynamics) normally only possible in offline rendering;
  • Character Technology, which works to deliver the most realistic real-time character models and animations;
  • and Image Based Lighting, which brings lighting and render consistency to all materials.

For a closer look at the beauty the CRYENGINE allows for in its games, two new trailers have been revealed, which can be viewed below. The CRYENGINE trailer shows how the tech looks in games like Monster Hunter Online, Evolve, Star Citizen, Icarus, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Ryse: Son of Rome and Warface; the CRYENGINE Free SDK trailer shows how it looks for non-commercial use projects like Snow, Umbra and Aderyn's Cradle, as well as a variety of environments and settings like "Lil' Whiskey Saloon, CeleryLand, Cave along the Coast, Halcyon City, Severalls Hospital, Autumnal Graveyard, The Lab, Iron Age," and "Wrecked Apartment."

If you're a developer interested in the engine, you can download either version from the CRYENGINE website. For more on Crytek and the CRYENGINE technology, check out all of our Crytek news.

GDC 2014 CRYENGINE Showcase Trailer

//www.youtube.com/embed/6B02i1AaQms?feature=player_detailpage

GDC 2014 CRYENGINE Free SDK Showcase Trailer

//www.youtube.com/embed/MShEe8twY6g?feature=player_detailpage