Over 260 enhancements and fixes come to the latest build, putting more power than ever before in the hands of CryENGINEERS around the world. CRYENGINE 5.5 has been developed in parallel with Hunt: Showdown, our monster hunter available in Early Access on Steam now, and the release features many of the improvements in the branch that the game development team at Frankfurt has been using to achieve their vision.

CRYENGINE 5.5 is available directly from the launcher and makes CRYENGINE quicker, more powerful, and easier to use, and includes a new beginner’s course where newcomers are taken through every step to quickly create a full game in CRYENGINE. CRYENGINE 5.5 has been developed with feedback from both the Hunt: Showdown Team in Frankfurt and feedback and suggestions from the CRYENGINE community around the world. Your feedback is always heard, and we couldn’t have made this release without everyone’s valuable input. Keep it coming!

You can read the full CRYENGINE 5.5 release notes and check out just some of the new features below.

CRYENGINE 5.5 Release Highlights

New Getting Started Course: Our new beginner’s course shows users with no experience of game development how to create a full game in CRYENGINE in just 10 chapters. This is a common request, and we’re delighted to finally release the new documentation which we think will really help those with no experience get making their own projects quickly. So stay tuned! We will gradually release and update new and exciting sections & features this week.

SVOGI Improvements: SVOGI can now run on consoles and we have enabled developers to cache SVOGI on the disk and calculate GI completely offline. This means you can make the most realistic scenes yet.

Terrain System Improvements: New features and enhancements vastly improve the terrain system, including the ability to weight and blend multiple materials, more detailed heightmaps, and more.

New Sandbox Level File Format: A new level file format future-proofs collaborative editing and usage of version control systems, and allows users to place level files anywhere in the project directory.

Sandbox UI/UX Improvements: The Sandbox will now provide users new upgrades and tweaks to improve workflows and make development faster and easier. Improvements include a new dropdown within your tab so you can see all windows open within that dock, allowing you to nest everything inside that side pane and keeping you free to dev completely in the viewport. You can also control the distance of your helpers within the viewport, and CTRL click the visibility icon to hide all (solo mode). This will help you get to your item quickly and then jump back into the full scene if it is a complex collection of entities.

Updated Entity Components: New and legacy components are integrated in the new entity system, including rain and water ripple entities. A new VR Camera and interaction component makes getting up and running with VR even easier.

C# Upgrades: We have expanded how users can create C# assets directly inside the Asset Browser, with Visual Studio instances, debugging through the IDE, and more.

Character Proxy Creation: The FBX animation import feature now allows for physics proxy creation in the Character Tool viewport, and is interchangeable with the production environment for seamless editing and versioning.

Game Platform Plugins: A brand new Game Platform plugin allows for easy access to common distribution platforms and data transfer protocols. This includes Steamworks and PSN API functions like matchmaking, leaderboards, and achievements.

Unity Migration Guide: A new migration guide helps Unity users transfer their skills or content over to CRYENGINE faster than ever.

The latest update packs many features and fixes which we are sure will make the difference for users at all levels, from newbies starting out to battle-hardened veterans. Your feedback is invaluable to us, and work has already begun on the next update, so we’d love to hear your thoughts via the official CRYENGINE forum, Facebook, and Twitter.

- Your CRYENGINE Team