Crytek Boss Unsure About Crysis 2 Demo, Agrees With EA's Plan News

Cevat Yerli Crytek CEO has waded into the issue of premium demos, claiming that he's not sure about a Crysis 2 demo and believes EA's strategy for premium demos is the way forward.

EA had previously ruffled gamers' feathers by suggesting the day of the free demo could be over and possibly putting in place plans to release "premium demos" for $10-15 (£6-9).

A demo isn't a luxury, it's advertisement. The film industry despite your claims also has this "luxury", it's called a preview in the movie industry....

Anon

TVG Comments Board

In an interview with Develop, Yerli claims demos are "a luxury" and are "prohibitively expensive" for developers to create, before predicting "we'll see less and less of them in the future"

“A free demo is a luxury we have in the game industry that we don’t have in other industries such as film," Yerli told Develop.  "Because we’ve had this free luxury for so long, now there are plans to change this people are complaining about it. The reality is that we might not see any free game demos in the long term.”

“I think EA’s strategy is interesting, overall. The thing is, every time we see a publisher doing something to improve the industry, making things more commercially viable and actually increasing the market, people instantly think this is only some money-hungry ploy.”

Yerli claimed that the widespread anger greeted to EA's plans was likely a result of miscommunication.

“The problem with any new strategy like this is it initially may appear as a blood-hungry, money-grabbing strategy," he claimed. "But I think there is a genuine interest here to give gamers something more than a small demo released for free.

“I think the whole issue needs to be explained in a better way, because there is good thinking behind EA’s plan. I understand why people are thinking that all EA wants to do is maximise profits out of the audience, but really, what it’s really trying to do is get investment back but while being as fair to the gamer as much as it can. Ultimately, it will be a better deal for the gamer."

What do you think?  Do you want a demo of Crysis 2 to make up your mind; are you happy to pay up to nine quid for a more sizable sample of the action?  As always let us know in the comments below.