CRYENGINE 5.4 Preview released, includes Vulkan support

For the preview release, Vulkan support in CRYENGINE will be compatible for projects on PC, and the aim is to deploy additional Android support in future.

compatible for projects on PC

Might be wrong, but suspect they mean Windows.

They support building games for Linux, there's no reason to think it will be limited to Windows.

That seems positive. And while CRYENGINE may be less of a force than it was, it's still well enough known that the pros will notice. One would expect other engine makers to be all "Well if even CRYENGINE can do it we'd look lame if we didn't".
So this is one step on the way to Vulkan being a keep-up-with-the-Joneses, must-have checkbox. That's a Good Thing.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 26 Jul 2017 at 8:07 pm UTC

I pre-ordered Kingdom Come , but seems they will drop Linux support . (think there were rumors of employees working without pay for a while - but nothing I could confirm at the time)

Really wondering if I should get an inkling of hope or just pull the plug on any hopes for the game coming to Linux.

Will it help Star Citizen, or Lumberyard is now independent from Cry Engine?


Last edited by Shmerl on 26 Jul 2017 at 8:41 pm UTC

Fantastic News. There are a lot of CryEngine games I would throw money at if they landed on SteamOS for my gaming rig, Vulkan support is very welcome, glad to see them stepping their game up.

It's about time.

I pre-ordered Kingdom Come , but seems they will drop Linux support

They haven't completely ruled out Linux support, but they were giving refunds to Kickstarter backers (I got mine).

Will it help Star Citizen, or Lumberyard is now independent from Cry Engine?

It should, there is nothing stopping them from pulling in Vulkan support from CryEngine, infact Chris said in the past they were waiting for the Cry team to do it.

Is there a Linux editor?

I pre-ordered Kingdom Come , but seems they will drop Linux support . (think there were rumors of employees working without pay for a while - but nothing I could confirm at the time)

Really wondering if I should get an inkling of hope or just pull the plug on any hopes for the game coming to Linux.

I recall reading that Crytek wasn't paying their employees for like months at a time as well. Kind of weird that had some really successful games, then just sort of started disappearing. I mean if Valve didn't have Steam, with how long in between game releases, I think they'd be hurting for it as well.

I recall reading that Crytek wasn't paying their employees for like months at a time as well. Kind of weird that had some really successful games, then just sort of started disappearing. I mean if Valve didn't have Steam, with how long in between game releases, I think they'd be hurting for it as well.

Many employees left crytek to work on star citizen engine.

I thought cryengine was dead (crytek even).

Will it help Star Citizen, or Lumberyard is now independent from Cry Engine?

It should, there is nothing stopping them from pulling in Vulkan support from CryEngine, infact Chris said in the past they were waiting for the Cry team to do it.

But they forked a while ago and then made the (small) switch to Lumberyard and worked on 64bit a lot. There might not be much in common nowadays. Not sure they'll benefit much.

They used to be supporters of DX12 but admitted they switch their focus on Vulkan earlier this year, so they might already have been working with crytek or have their own work for Vulan.


Last edited by minidou on 27 Jul 2017 at 9:40 am UTC

They used to be supporters of DX12 but admitted they switch their focus on Vulkan earlier this year, so they might already have been working with crytek or have their own work for Vulkan.

Every time I am reminded of it, I think that Microsoft's decision to make DX12 work on Windows 10+ only was too clever by half and may actually result in Vulkan becoming the more dominant platform. They underestimated Vulkan because they've been able to pwn OpenGL all this time. So they just took DX dominance as a given, and decided to use DX12 to try to pull their user base to the newest versions of Windows. Only problem: Vulkan is at least as good as DX12, has moved pretty fast, and so is becoming viable while older versions of Windows are still a really big slice of the market. So, for all non-console games, Vulkan over DX12 is a no-brainer, and even for stuff that's going on XBox, you probably want both rather than just DX12 (since they're similar enough that it's apparently fairly easy).
Linux could reap the benefit of Microsoft's serious tactical mistake in its battle with Win 10+'s current major competitor, older versions of Windows.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 27 Jul 2017 at 4:30 pm UTC

Aww man, I wished Evolve had been released for Linux... but someone ruined the game with micro-transactions (or better macro-transactions), and the community legitimately was angry about that. Too bad. This game would have been awesome.
On the other hand, it was only stealth announced by Valve, when they announced their Steam Universe (Steam Controller, Steam Machines, Steam VR) stuff.
I guess the next big thing on CryEngine for Linux could be Star Citizen.

Evolve was pretty fun, we had a LAN party at work with it when it came out, and indeed they ruined it so we didn't play it again after that.

I am dying for Star Citizen to finally be released. In the meantime, I wish Elite: Dangerous would pick up Vulkan support...