Crytek's next flex of graphical muscle, Crysis 3, will be launching in February of 2013, which is just the tiniest bit more specific than the "Spring 2013" window known previously.

Crytek continues its multiplatform approach to development with Crysis 3, aiming to satisfy everyone from console owners to the PC gamers that are so hardcore, they cosplay as "parallax occlusion mapping." The developer hopes to have Direct X 11 support for PC at launch this time -- one of several advantages, it says, of having spent 14 months creating content and enhancing CryEngine 3, as opposed to building it and an accompanying game for three major systems.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we're going to have that," said Rasmus Hojengaard, Director of Creative Development. "I don't know if we've announced that yet, but obviously we're going to have DirectX 11 support since we already did it [for Crysis 2]. We basically started from a Crysis 2 DX11 patch, as starting point, and then we developed our technology from there on. We'd be pretty stupid not to capitalize on the technology we did for that and utilizing that from the get-go."

Crysis 3 was running on PC during a recent unveiling in San Francisco, where Crytek showed off its vision of New York City as a devastated, metropolitan mire being swallowed by nature. While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions aren't ready to be shown yet, Hojengaard says they will benefit from the studio's philosophy in art design, with the game being "actually less reliant on shader technology than, you know, just really good moods, good light setups, and good asset creation."

That approach, in turn, also supports the PC version, which still lives beneath the franchise's reputation for crippling even the most exorbitant hardware. "We also want to make sure, even if you're on the PC, even if you don't have the super powerhouse, nuclear power plant at home, you can still run the game and get a beautiful experience from it."

Crysis 3's naturalization of New York City's concrete jungle takes full shape in the first gameplay trailer, released this morning by EA. That compound bow makes plenty of appearances, but don't think Crytek has forgotten about all those other toys Crysis fans have come to expect.

Guys! Guys! Can you imagine if that Crysis 3 nanosuit dude is actually just Ted Nugent on a wild bow hunting spree after civilization collapses? That's the Crysis 3 we want to play. Don't you? Take a peek at the gallery below and get all up in this crazy headspace we've got going this morning.

Crysis 3

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Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli revealed that all future projects from the company will be free-to-play, according to an interview with VideoGamer.com. Yerli noted that "the future is online and free-to-play," and that the company is in a transitional phase, focusing future games and platforms around those models after completing current contracts for games in development.

Crytek's first game to venture into the free-to-play market is Warface, first introduced to Asian regions in late 2010 and coming to North America in 2012. Yerli cited Warface as an example of future titles from the company, which "implies budgets of between $10 million to $30 million... but at the price-point of $0 entry."

Yerli explained that the free-to-play business model is the most user-friendly, as opposed to premium content structures. "If you look at what kind of games are done in the packaged goods market, with DLCs and premium services and whatnot, it's literally milking the customers to death," he said.

Crytek's free-to-play games will be supported by its game streaming network Gface, which went into beta in February.