Crytek and DeNA partner to launch mobile action game The Collectables

Crysis developer Crytek has published games through Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and itself — and now it’s working with DeNA to take on mobile.

This week, Crytek launched its action-shooter The Collectables on iOS through DeNA’s Mobage platform. This game has players putting together a team of oddball mercenaries to blast through levels. They can upgrade their characters and equipment as they defeat enemies to take on more difficult challenges — it will also feature in-app purchases to speed up that process. The Collectables marks Crytek’s first move into the $16 billion mobile gaming market, and it is available now as a free download from the iOS App Store.

As with all Crytek titles, the company’s Budapest studio built the mobile release on its CryEngine software development kit, which Crytek will start offerings as a monthly service to other developers soon.

DeNA’s Mobage game network hosts top-grossing titles like the collectible-card games Marvel: War of Heroes and Rage of Bahamut. Some players in those titles will start seeing in-game ads for The Collectibles.

“As a pioneer in the mobile space, DeNA helps to ensure that the unique, action-packed experience we’ve created in The Collectables reaches as many players as possible through their groundbreaking Mobage platform,” Crytek Budapest studio manager Kristoffer Waardahl said in a statement.

This marks the first mobile game that uses Crytek’s graphics engine. The studio hopes other developers will use the development tool to make their games for mobile as well as PC and consoles.

“Crytek managed to do the unthinkable and integrate their remarkable CryEngine technology into the company’s first free-to-play mobile game,” DeNA head of strategic partnerships Barry Dorf said. “The Collectables is a visually stunning and explosive gameplay experience that pushes the boundaries of what can be achieved on mobile devices.”

Crytek will begin charging $10 a month to indie developers that wish to use its development tool. It will also keep producing its own in-house games like The Collectables and the Xbox One launch showpiece Ryse: Son of Rome.

While Crytek is partnering with DeNA on mobile, it has plans to start self-publishing its own titles in the future. The company is one of the many developers to join Microsoft’s ID@Xbox program, which enables even the smallest studios to release their own games on the Xbox One’s Game Store without going through a third-party.