MechWarrior Online Is Powered by CryEngine 3

MechWarrior Online, the recently announced free-to-play multiplayer robot brawler, is going to be powered by the CryEngine 3 technology, previously seen in Crysis 2 earlier this year and the re-release of Crysis 1 on consoles.

The MechWarrior franchise delighted lots of PC gamers many years ago and Piranha Games is now getting ready to bring back that experience, only this time in the form of a free-to-play online game called, what else, MechWarrior Online.

We've already heard quite a lot of details about the game, which is going to appear for the PC next year, but the developer, alongside Crytek, have now confirmed that the online title will be powered by CryEngine 3, the newest graphics engine from the German studio.

“Here at Crytek we are incredibly proud that Piranha Games have selected CryEngine3 to power their forthcoming Mechwarrior Online game,” says Carl Jones, Director of Global Business Development CryEngine. “2012 will see a new segment in the games industry – as free-to-play games will step up to offer true AAA quality to gamers. Both Piranha and Crytek believe in the potential of this market and we look forward to helping them achieve their vision for an amazing game experience."

CryEngine 3 is set to allow the two teams to depict a great mech warfare simulation, in which you can customize your own BattleMech, upgrade it with new systems, swap out weapons or tweak your armor to provide the best support for your own play style.

“Working with CryEngine is a true pleasure," said Russ Bullock, president of Piranha Games. "It is definitely the best choice for us: Both the character animation pipeline with the procedurally and physics based animations and the destruction system fit our goals perfectly and allow us to develop a truly unique AAA experience based on the award-winning BattleTech Universe."

MechWarrior Online is currently scheduled to appear for the PC sometime in 2012, although a beta stage is expected before that, to give players a taste of the multiplayer experience.