Mail.ru Will operate Crytek’s Warface in Russia

Video game developer Crytek and the Internet services company Mail.ro Group have announced that they are working together on launching the Warface first person shooter in both Russia and a number of other countries of the CIS area during 2012.

Warface is free-to-play and is focused on online action with the developers aiming to make it a success mainly on markets where full priced game releases tend not to perform too well.

Warface will be launched in China with support from Tencent Holdings and there are also plans for a full launch on Western markets, although no partnerships have yet been announced for Europe and North America.

The game uses the CryEngine 3 technology and was created by the studios that the company has in Kiev, Seoul and Frankfurt.

Avni Yerli, who is the managing director at Crytek, has stated, “With Mail.Ru Group we have found a perfect partner for publishing Warface in Russia and we are looking forward to releasing Crytek's newest IP together.”

He added, “Given Mail.Ru Group's incredible experience and expertise we are convinced that Warface will raise the quality bar and set the standard for the next generation of massively multiplayer online shooters.”

Mail.ru is currently operating titles like Silkroad Online, Neverland and Perfect World II in Russia and also has a deal with Bigpoint to share video game titles in their main portals.

The free-to-play business model is getting more and more supporters when it comes to social experiences and traditional MMOs but it has not yet been used for full scale skills based shooters.

Warface will benefit from the graphics engine that Crytek has developed but it’s not clear how many gamers will be attracted by the hardcore experience.

The game will face strong competition from Ubisoft, which will also launch Ghost Recon Online during next year.