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One of the most cutting-edge game development platforms is, from today, available to everyone for free.

Crytek, the independent Frankfurt group famous for its CryEngine, has become the latest engine vendor to offer its tech at no initial cost.

Much like with Unity and, more recently, the Unreal Development Kit, CryEngine’s SDK is being offered gratis in the hope that more developers will experiment and test game ideas with the tech.

Carl Jones, Crytek’s engine business director, said he hopes the free SDK will “lead to new companies being formed and using our engine”.

If a studio wants to release a commercial product using CryEngine, standard licensing rates will then come into effect.

The toolset is available for download at crydev.net, Crytek’s new web portal for the mod and development community, and the German independent has pledged to update the tech regularly. The SDK is only available for PC games development, Crytek added.

Since its launch CryEngine 3 has been licensed by numerous games studios dotted across Asia – a market Epic Games is beginning to make inroads into. Licensing deals with western studios are in place but have yet to be announced.

”We expect to increase the talent pool for CryEngine developers, as well as boosting our online community of users,” Jones added.

”This SDK contains more toys than we’ve ever released before – it empowers people to create whole new games from scratch, not just mod Crytek’s own games, so we encourage all aspiring and indie developers to try it out.”