Crysis 4 - What We Know So Far

It's been nearly a decade since the last main entry into the "Crysis" series. Since leaving the EA umbrella back in 2013, Crytek has only delivered remastered versions of the popular first-person shooter games — a remaster of the original "Crysis" back in 2020, followed by the remaster of the entire trilogy, save for "Crysis Warheads," that came out in 2021. Other than that, the future of the franchise has been largely unaddressed, with little information as to whether the series would ever get another day in the sun.

For the uninitiated, "Crysis" is a series set in a dystopian near-future setting, where U.S. special forces equipped with powerful exoskeleton uniforms called "nanosuits," attempt to stave off both hostile forces from North Korea and an ancient alien race known as the Ceph – who have been apparently been present on the Earth for at least 65 million years. Though it never gained as much traction as some of its contemporaries — for example, "Halo" or "Call of Duty" — "Crysis" carved out a decently sized player base that has patiently waited for news of a new title.

Fortunately, Crytek recently confirmed the development of a new title that has fans excited. Here's everything we know about the tentatively titled "Crysis 4."

Right now, there is no scheduled release date for "Crysis 4" due to it still being in early development. In the official announcement, Crytek said that "it will be a while" before any such game comes to market, so it's best to sit tight if you're feeling excited about this one. Despite the fact that a release date hasn't been formally set yet, the announcement of "Crysis 4" has been enough to get some hype going. Reddit user u/NiteVelocity1 couldn't contain their excitement, exclaiming "OMG GUYS ITS HAPPENING!" on a Reddit post sharing the reveal teaser. "Wooohoo I'm buzzing at this news," another commenter remarked.

What can be confirmed is that "Crysis 4" is being developed with the intention of being a "truly next-gen shooter" and should release on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the PC. Whether the games will also release on the older PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles is a huge question mark.

While it doesn't have a traditional trailer that reveals things such as gameplay or information regarding its plot, "Crysis 4" was given a 46-second teaser trailer on January 26, 2022. The short teaser features a lot of vague imagery, including the sun and anti-gravity elements, before the reveal of the number "4" at the very end. A tagline then pops up on screen, saying "Join the journey. Become the hero." The title of the teaser video indicates that "Crysis 4" is just a working title, implying that a longer, more direct title could be given to the game in later development.

Though most of the images in the trailer are vague, one user on Reddit, u/SeSSioN117, seems to think that Crytek filled it with Easter eggs with references to past titles. These Easter eggs supposedly include references to the character Psycho, a VTOL vehicle, and the death and supposed resurrection of Nomad. It will be some time before these are verifiable, but it's nice to analyze these small details in the absence of bigger, more direct ones.

At this point in time, nothing is known about the plot in "Crysis 4", when it will take place, or where it fits into the existing canon. But that hasn't prevented dedicated fans of the series from drawing their own conclusions from what little imagery we've seen. YouTuber and "Crysis" fan PythonSelkan posted his analysis of the teaser trailer for "Crysis 4" and has predicted that the game could center around a mass extinction event brought on by the Ceph alien species due to the trailer's focus on both the sun and deterioration of virtually everything that is shown. PythonSelkan also thinks that some of the teaser's imagery — such as several panels ascending to resemble a dilapidated skyline — makes allusions to New York City, the main setting of both "Crysis 2" and "Crysis 3".

However, it is also possible that the teaser trailer has little to do with anything substantial as it pertains to "Crysis 4" and could instead just be a collection of references to common "Crysis" imagery to make fans happy. Regardless, it's fair to suspect that more will be revealed as the Crytek team gets deeper into development with the game.

As the team at Crytek has entered development on "Crysis 4", it seems the developer is seeking more employees to help with designing the game. "[I]f you're one of those people who was inspired by Crysis to get into development, then why not come work on the next chapter," Crytek CEO Avni Yerli said in the game's formal announcement. "We have some openings available on the team right now, for people who will truly shape the future of the franchise[.]"

On Crytek's careers page, there are currently 21 openings as it pertains to the development of "Crysis 4". A majority of these jobs are in relation to game design, with 7 of them being in Crytek's art/animation department, and another 11 being focused on design/content. With such a large amount of positions being open, it's safe to assume that Crytek is dedicated to providing fans of the "Crysis" franchise a true AAA experience with the fourth game in its mainline series.