From the original Far Cry to the upcoming Crysis 2, German developer Crytek has built a reputation for technologically impressive games. Now the studio hopes to turn that reputation into real money, as today it launched CryEngine 3 for use by other developers.

As the underlying technology for Crysis 2, the CryEngine 3 technology reflects Crytek's recent expansion into multiplatform development. The engine is designed to support development not only on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PCs, but Crytek claims its scalability will also make it a viable choice for the next generation of platforms.

When it comes to licensed engines, Crytek is chasing Epic Games and the Unreal Engine 3, the oft-licensed technology underneath the hood of a huge swatch of games, from the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum to the much-reviled Hour of Victory. However, Epic's support for Unreal licensees was castigated in an ongoing lawsuit from Too Human developer Silicon Knights. It's little surprise, then, that one of the features Crytek is centering its promotional push for the engine on isn't in the technology at all; it's in customer service.



"Of course, our international team of more than 20 dedicated support staff are available right now to help our licensees make the most of CryEngine 3; at their studio or at one of our support centers around the world," Crytek director of business development Carl Jones said in a statement heralding the launch of the engine.

Crytek's CryEngine technology has previously been used in creating the studio's own titles and was licensed out to NCsoft for use in the company's recently released massively multiplayer online role-playing game Aion. It's unlikely gamers will get to see the CryEngine 3 in action anytime soon; although Crysis 2 was originally revealed in June, no release window for the game has been confirmed.