Very Early Crysis Next Gameplay Reveals Unannounced Battle Royale Project Seemingly Canceled in Favor of Crysis 4

It appears that Crysis developer Crytek was at one point working on a battle royale-inspired Crysis project codenamed Crysis Next.

Very early gameplay, which hit YouTube last week, shows third-person shooting in a basic warm-up arena with Crysis’ trademark abilities and sound effects layered on top. Crytek is working to remove the footage from YouTube, with videos now displaying a message that confirms a copyright claim by the company. However, some remain live at the time of publication.

Crytek never announced Crysis Next, and it appears it was canceled in favor of Crysis 4, which was announced in January 2022. Crytek declined to comment when contacted by IGN.

Given the battle royale boom sparked by PUBG and Fortnite in the late 2010s, it’s perhaps no surprise to learn that Crytek experimented with the genre. Many developers tried their hand at capitalising on battle royale during the period, some successful, some less so, some even failing to launch. The canceled TimeSplitters reboot that was in development at the now shuttered Free Radical Design was reportedly originally pitched as a battle royale game to rival Fortnite. There will be many more such projects that failed to see the light of day.

Crysis is a first-person sci-fi shooter series known for its impressive visuals, cool nanosuit powers, and open-ended gameplay. The first game in the series, released in 2007, was often used as a PC benchmark given the demands it would make of PCs at the time. Crysis was so demanding that it spawned the now infamous catchphrase, “But can it run Crysis?”, which was used in the years following the game’s release to deliver a verdict on a PC spec.

The last mainline game in the series, Crysis 3, came out in February 2013. Crytek released remasters of the originals in recent years, but we’ve yet to hear more about Crysis 4 since its announcement and teaser two-and-a-half years ago.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.