DiscoDave
02-05-2004, 10:23 AM
Many of you know that since CES, I've been a Far Cry fanboy. So you can imagine my reaction when I saw this on ve3d.com...
Numerous German-language sites are now reporting that Crytek, developers of the forthcoming first-person shooter, Far Cry, have been raided by police and authorities after an ex-employee informed them of widespread software piracy at the studio.
Reports indicate that the software has been used to create the game and that the value of the software, if purchased legally, would be over 1 million Euros. The home of Faruk Yerli, one of the three brothers who set up Crytek, has also been searched for illegal software.
No comment has been issued from either Cyrtek or Ubisoft as of yet, and if illegal software has been discovered, the ramifications to the release of Far Cry are unknown. Ponder this however - what is the legality of game content if created with illegal tools?
Update: Ubisoft just got back to me with an official statement:
"Ubisoft was informed on Wednesday, in the beginning of the afternoon, of the search of the premises of Crytek the same morning. We cannot give any comments on the judicial enquiry concerning the management of Crytek and we hope that the suspicion of a fraudulent use of an image-treatment software reveals to be unfounded.
The Crytek team has started working again normally as of Wednesday, 2 pm and works relentlessly on the finalisation of Far Cry. The game will ship as planned at the end of March."
:stare:
Numerous German-language sites are now reporting that Crytek, developers of the forthcoming first-person shooter, Far Cry, have been raided by police and authorities after an ex-employee informed them of widespread software piracy at the studio.
Reports indicate that the software has been used to create the game and that the value of the software, if purchased legally, would be over 1 million Euros. The home of Faruk Yerli, one of the three brothers who set up Crytek, has also been searched for illegal software.
No comment has been issued from either Cyrtek or Ubisoft as of yet, and if illegal software has been discovered, the ramifications to the release of Far Cry are unknown. Ponder this however - what is the legality of game content if created with illegal tools?
Update: Ubisoft just got back to me with an official statement:
"Ubisoft was informed on Wednesday, in the beginning of the afternoon, of the search of the premises of Crytek the same morning. We cannot give any comments on the judicial enquiry concerning the management of Crytek and we hope that the suspicion of a fraudulent use of an image-treatment software reveals to be unfounded.
The Crytek team has started working again normally as of Wednesday, 2 pm and works relentlessly on the finalisation of Far Cry. The game will ship as planned at the end of March."
:stare: