Akolyta enters a new chapter as we switch development to Unreal Engine 5. We made this decision after evaluating the future of CRYENGINE and listening to our community. The move allows us to focus fully on the game and rebuild the first level with modern tools, faster workflows, and long‑term stability.
Hello everyone.
We finally return with an important update about Akolyta. After long internal discussions, we made a major decision: we move the entire project to Unreal Engine 5.
Why We Stayed Quiet
When we started developing Akolyta, we chose CRYENGINE. At that time, it matched Unreal Engine in technology, received active support from Crytek, and delivered regular updates. Over the years, the situation changed. Crytek disbanded the communications team that supported developers, and new engine releases stopped.
We don’t criticize Crytek. We respect their work and understand that many factors lie outside our control. But we saw that the engine needed more maintenance and improvements than before. Because of that, we joined forces with other developers and started working on CRYENGINE Community Edition, a version focused on smoother and more accessible game development.
Putting the Game First
As we progressed, we realized that engine development required far more time and resources than we expected. Our team is small, and we want to deliver Akolyta—not spend years maintaining an engine.
We reached a crossroads. We could either continue improving CRYENGINE and delay the game, or switch to Unreal Engine 5 and put Akolyta first. We asked our community on Discord, and the answer was clear: focus on the game.
So we listened. We switched to Unreal Engine 5. The decision wasn’t easy, and the transition demands a lot of work, but the development already moves forward smoothly.
What Comes Next
Our next major milestone is the release of the first level, rebuilt entirely in Unreal Engine 5. It will mirror the content from the previous version, but we are creating everything from scratch. Environment art progresses well, but we still need to rebuild all gameplay systems and mechanics.
As for CRYENGINE, we still love the engine. We will continue contributing to CRYENGINE Community Edition, and we hope to use it again for one of our future projects.
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