XLGames picks CryEngine 2

Korean developer XLGames has signed a deal with CryTek to license CryENGINE 2 for its latest MMO project.

XLGames was founded by Jake Song, who was former executive VP of development at NCSoft and the creator of Lineage, the world’s most successful MMORPG. As well as being headquartered in Seoul, the company also has a subsidiary office in Austin, Texas to aid in producing massively-multiplayer online RPGs that focus to both Eastern and Western tastes.

Speaking of the CryENGINE 2’s technical capabilities, Song said: “The CryENGINE 2 is in a class by itself. Not only are the graphics unquestionably the best available, but the unprecedented ability it offers to physically interact with the environment will allow us to create entirely new modes of game play which up to now we could only dream of implementing.”

Patrick Doane, vice president and technical director, added: “We previously had a lot of success using their ground breaking CryENGINE 1 technology while at NCSoft for AION, and after seeing what it could do in the early previews of Crysis, we just knew we wanted to continue to work with their great new tools and engine.”

“Jake Song is a true pioneer and legend in the world of massively multiplayer games, having almost single handedly created the original market for them in Asia,” said Faruk Yerli, managing director of Crytek.

“To now have his own company select the CryENGINE 2 as their middleware, and Crytek as their primary technology provider, demonstrates a high level of confidence in our tools and technology, as well as in our team’s ability to support their ongoing efforts to build a ground breaking new next generation game, not only now, but also for many years to come.”