Which to Choose? CryEngine vs Unity – A Complete Guide

If you prioritize photorealistic visuals and want a royalty-free system, CryEngine is the go-to choice. However, if you’re aiming for optimal cross-platform compatibility and an active developer community, Unity gains the upper hand, despite its controversial pricing structure.

Key Differences Between CryEngine and Unity

• CryEngine is royalty-free, charging $9.90/month without requiring a royalty share for commercializing games, whereas Unity follows a per-install fee model from 2024.
• Unity has a broader cross-platform range, including mobile platforms like Android & iOS, while CryEngine’s mobile support is recent (2020).
• Unity caters to a wide range of applications including AR/VR and 2D games, whereas CryEngine excels primarily in photorealistic shooters, first-person games, and open-world environments.
• Unity has a larger and more active developer community compared to CryEngine, providing a more cooperative and supportive environment for problem-solving and feedback.

What Is CryEngine and Who’s It For?

CryEngine, developed by Crytek, is a comprehensive game development engine renowned for creating photorealistic first-person shooters and games set in nature-rich environments. Lauded for its advanced, out-of-the-box tools, CryEngine is widely used by an array of developers, from indie to commercial scale, enabling them to create and commercialize high-end games without worrying about royalty shares.

Pros of CryEngine

• Robust Toolset
• Multi-Platform Support
• Excellent at Photorealistic Games
• No Royalties on Commercial Projects
• Strong Open World Capabilities

Cons of CryEngine

• Limited Android Support
• Steep Learning Curve
• Smaller Developer Community as Compared to Unity
• Less Suitable for 2D Games

What Is Unity and Who’s It For?

Unity is an adaptable game development engine with enduring popularity, providing a versatile programming environment for crafting both 3D and 2D games. Suitable for a wide range of developers, from hobbyist programmers to professional studios, Unity supports extensive cross-platform publishing and offers a wealth of pre-designed assets, fostering creativity in game development.

Pros of Unity

• Rich Integrated Asset Store
• Supports Wide Range of Coding Languages
• Vibrant Developer Community
• Highly Adaptable and Cross-Platform
• Impressive Suite of Tools and Features for Game Creation

Cons of Unity

• New Pricing Model Draughts Backlash
• Concerns Over Per-Install Fees
• Less Trust Due to Unannounced Changes
• Fears Over Financial Sustainability Among Developers

CryEngine vs Unity: Pricing

In stark contrast, CryEngine offers a user-friendly, royalty-free monthly subscription, while Unity is moving to a controversial per-install fee model effective January 1, 2024.

CryEngine

The CryEngine operates through a royalty-free system where developers pay only $9.90 per month, with no royalty share required when selling game projects. In 2018, CryEngine evolved towards adopting a 5% revenue-sharing model, however, it doesn’t remove the ongoing subscription. They also migrated to a “pay what you want” model for the source code in 2016. Additionally, a Free SDK is available for non-commercial game development.

Unity

Unity’s current pricing model will be replaced with a new one effective on January 1, 2024. Under this, developers will have to incur a fee each time a game using Unity software is installed. This per-install fee commences when the game surpasses 200,000 installations and $200,000 in revenue. Unity’s past pricing had a free and Pro version, but it faced backlash due to its perceived harm on solo and mobile developers. Despite the uproar, Unity assures that fraud detection practices will be implemented to prevent undue charges for pirated copies.

Code Examples for CryEngine & Unity

CryEngine

The snippet below showcases a simple implementation of a button click event in CryEngine. This script represents an advanced take on a basic concept where a button event triggers a randomized change in the rotation of a 3D cube using Lua. Users would require CryEngine version 3.8 or later for this snippet to work optimally.

        --[[Registering the Cube entity]]

    ButtonCube = 
    {
        Properties =
        {
            Rotation = { x = 0, y = 0, z = 0 },
        }
    }
    
    --[[This function is called when the button is clicked]]

    function ButtonCube:OnClicked()
        math.randomseed( os.time() )

        local randomRotation =
        {
            x = math.random(0, 360),
            y = math.random(0, 360),
            z = math.random(0, 360),
        }

        self.Properties.Rotation = randomRotation
    end
    

Unity

The following snippet for Unity is a unique example of a coroutine that produces procedural movement of a Game Object in a Sine-Wave pattern. This snippet is in C# and is compatible with Unity version 2017.4 and later.

        // The game object to move
    public Transform target;

    // The speed of the sine movement
    public float speed = 1.0f;

    // The frequency of the sine movement
    public float frequency = 1.0f;

    // The magnitude of the sine movement
    public float magnitude = 0.5f;

    // The original position of the game object
    Vector3 originalPos;

    void Start () {
        originalPos = target.position;
        
        // Start the Coroutine named "SineMovement"
        StartCoroutine(SineMovement());
    }

    IEnumerator SineMovement () {
        while (true) {
            target.position = originalPos + (transform.up * Mathf.Sin(Time.time * frequency) * magnitude);
            yield return new WaitForSeconds(speed);
        }
    }
    

Decoding the Conundrum: CryEngine vs Unity

In the face of competing techno marvels, CryEngine and Unity, your choice banks on a blend of in-depth analysis and subjective preferences. Here’s our dissection

Established Game Developers

If you’re an established game developer or a team well-versed in crying foul at challenges, CryEngine is your pick. This platform enjoys the edge in photorealistic environments and open-world settings, leveraging a wealthy set of inbuilt tools. Most critically, CryEngine’s freedom from royalty shares makes it a haven for commercial project kickstarters.

Indie Developers and Solo Pioneers

Steering the journey alone or as an indie developer? Unity is indisputably your ally. With an active developer community at the ready, Unity’s support ecosystem eases troubleshooting and encourages innovation. The highly adaptable engine, fit for creating diverse applications from AR to 3D simulations, does not discriminate among its platform offerings. However, be wary of Unity’s new per-install fee structure coming into effect in 2024 if you’re in the app-making avenues.

Budget-Conscious Project Enthusiasts

Unity offers a free version for those cloak-and-daggering in game development without a gargantuan budget. Take note of the announced per-install fee, set to step in from 2024 onwards. However, until your game hits the 200,000 install plateau, Unity ensures smooth sailing with minimal fiscal threats.

Summarizing, if you’re creating rich, photorealistic environments without the worry of royalty shares, CryEngine stands tall. Unity, on the other hand, greets indie developers with a dynamic community, unprecedented platform adaptability, and a budget-friendly entryway, albeit with upcoming fiscal challenges.