The CRYENGINE marketplace will be transformed into a free asset database for our engine. Find out what you need to know.

As many of you will have noticed, the CRYENGINE Marketplace's functionality for vendors has been restricted for several months now. Unfortunately, we have had to make a difficult decision this month regarding its future. We will be removing the commercial side to the CRYENGINE Marketplace, and instead, we will convert it into a free asset database.

This transition will happen in two phases:

1. Deprecation of the old payment workflow & purchase functionality.
2. Asset database release, which unlocks the conversion of products that were previously paid assets to free assets and enables vendors old and new to become asset contributors.

Phase 1 starts tomorrow February 3rd, 3 pm GMT+1. You will see some further restrictions to the marketplace functionality as long as it takes. Keep an eye out for updates.

FAQ

Why is CRYENGINE doing this?

It's a combination of things, but primarily business needs and a change in the terms of service of our payment provider make this the best course of action. The wallet system was customized to work with MangoPay's system, and our web team put a lot of work and effort into making the user workflow as convenient as possible. If we need to change the payment provider, we are looking at extensive development time and re-evaluating a lot of our backend systems and structures. 

Why didn't you look for a new payment provider?

We did explore switching payment providers, but unfortunately, it is not a simple process. We are still looking into different options further down the road, but we will have to deprecate the old system integration for the time being. 

What does this mean for vendors?

It means your vendor profiles will remain, but your wallet will be switched to read-only mode, and all paid assets will be hidden. People who purchased an asset from you in the past will still be able to download them for a while after we have made the change.

As a vendor, you will have the opportunity to turn existing products into free assets further down the road, should you so desire. 

If you have a positive balance in your wallet, no matter how small, please get in touch with our customer support team, and we will reimburse you the total amount. The usual payout threshold does not apply, and Crytek will reimburse everybody.

What does this mean for buyers?

Please make sure you download and back up all your previously purchased assets and make sure you keep copies of receipts of purchase for your records. 

When will this process start?

It starts tomorrow, February 3rd, 2022, at 3 pm GMT+1. 

From tomorrow, you will:

• Be unable to purchase and check out paid assets.
• Be unable to create paid assets as a product.
• MangoPay’s KYC (KnowYourCustomer) process will be locked.

You will still be able to download free assets or assets you previously purchased. 

What happens next?

We had hoped to keep CRYENGINE Marketplace, but we see a lot of potential in a free asset database as well. All of the Crytek-sponsored assets will still be available, and there are a lot of vendors who give away assets for free. In the future, we will re-evaluate the concept for the CRYENGINE marketplace, and we are happy to receive your feedback. After the conversion is complete, we will send out surveys to all previously active vendors and buyers to gather feedback for future developments. 

Please stay tuned for updates and email communications around your CRYENGINE Marketplace account. We have already contacted all vendors with a positive balance in their wallets about the payout. Unfortunately, the subject matter has been proven difficult to communicate without sounding like a proverbial 'Foreign-Prince' to email providers. That means that some firewalls and email providers might have quarantined our email communication efforts. 

Please make sure you add exemptions for cryengine.com email addresses to your firewall or add them to the safe sender list. Check your spam folder for previous emails you might have missed.

We appreciate that many of you will be disappointed by this news, and we know that it is not ideal. However, we look forward to seeing how the CRYENGINE Marketplace evolves as a free asset database. As we receive your feedback, we will evaluate all options for the future of this resource.

Are you making something great with CRYENGINE? Let us know in the comments, on the forum, or via Facebook and Twitter. Pick up tips and tricks about our engine, ask questions, and more by joining our community and the CRYENGINE development team over on our official CRYENGINE Discord channel.

If you find a bug in the engine, please report it directly on GitHub, which helps us process the issue quickly and efficiently. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel, where we host a range of content, including tutorials covering all aspects of the engine and game design. Want to show your love for CRYENGINE? Pick up merch over on the official online Crytek Store. 

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